Vampire Academy: Dimitri's Story
by Brittany1224
Summary: This is the first book of The Vampire Academy series in Dimitri's point of view."It's one of if not the best DPOV of Vampire Academy I've read""This is the best take at a VA fic I have ever read""yours is very unique" ::Rated M to be safe. NOW COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

Here is chapter one, I hope you all enjoy. This is one of my favorite books, so heres a little taste of Dimitri's story.

Please don't forget to review. Criticism is always good, just please be nice. I can get pissed easily. And nobody wants a pissed off author... everyone would die... :( we dont want that to happen, so just be nice and truthful. Thanks again.

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We have been tracking these two teenage girls for almost a full year now. Fortunately, we got a lead two weeks ago, which led us here. To a college campus in Portland. It was about two thirty in the morning, about the only time a college campus started to settle down, I was here with at least a dozen other Guardians to retrieve these too young girls. The Dragomir Princess and her best friend, Rosemarie Hathaway, I had read all the files on both girls, seems that Rosemarie can be quite a handful at times. The rumor was that she kidnapped the Princess, but I don't think that that was the case; the Princess had plenty of chances to escape. No. She came willingly. Maybe there was a reason for their disappearance. Although, I was sure it was Rosemarie who came up with the whole grand plan. Vasilisa, on the other hand, seemed to be Rosemarie's polar opposite.

"Belikov, what do you want us to do? We have been waiting here all night. We know they are in there, we have visual proof, let's just get this over with." Said one of the other Guardians. There were a few hushed murmurs of agreement, and that is when we heard it.

A blood curdling scream.

We all tensed, but didn't make any move to do anything. The window suddenly burst with light as the girl with dark hair, Rosemarie I presume, flung herself out of bed and flipped on the bedside lamp. I shifted slightly, so I could see the other side of the room, through the window that was, fortunately, not blocked by curtains. A soft breeze blew across my face as I watched Rosemarie try and wake up the Princess from her nightmare. There were soft murmurs coming from the cracked window, but even my advanced, Dhampir hearing couldn't pick up on what was being said.

The two girls sat there together for a few moments, until a cat leapt up onto the window sill, I looked at him with curiosity. I wasn't positive that he could see me, but he definitely knew something was out here.

That's when I turned my attention back to the two runaways. I turned my head just in time to see Rosemarie flick her hair back and extend her neck to Vasilisa. My brows furrowed in confusion, was she going to let the Princess drink from her? I guess there weren't that many options out here. No feeders for the Princess. I felt a kind of respect for Rosemarie; she did what she had to do to keep the Princess alive and healthy. It was actually kind of impressive. I could hear the other Guardians and their disgusted comments; I guess they didn't see it as I did.

The whole exchange took only about a minute or less, the Princess didn't take too much blood, I could tell that this wasn't one of their favorite activities. It was just an unfortunate necessity. The Princess seemed to be worried about her friend, Rosemarie just waved it off, I stepped a little closer, I desperately wanted to know what was being said between them. It confused me; I didn't understand how two fifteen year old girls could break out of a high security, magically guarded Academy. These girls were smart; they were young, naive and very smart.

Princess Vasilisa went to the door and walked out into the hall, and out of my vision. I turned my focus back to Rose, who had a loopy smile on her face as she talked to her cat. The cat didn't seem to want to have anything to do with her; most animals don't like us Dhampirs, to them we were unnatural, and in a way, we were. The cat jumped up to the window sill again and peered out at me, now visible due to my curiosity. Great. Just then, Rosemarie's head popped into view, she stuck her head out the window and looked around.

And her eyes landed on me. Shit.

She jerked back in surprise. A little gasp escaping from her perfect little mouth. Wait... what? I admit that is very pretty, she may even be very beautiful, if I could get closer and see her face. I was about thirty feet away, close enough for her to throw something at me, but she just sat there. She probably just realized that I had seen everything that had just happened between them. I took a small step back, just so that I would be covered by the shadows, and another Guardian came up to me and whispered, "They will try to run, what do you want to do?" she asked. I was head of this mission, so I made the decision on whether to go in and retrieve them or to wait and see what happened next.

Rosemarie jumped back and started fumbling around the room, so she connected the dots. She knew who we were and understood that we were here to take her back to St. Vladimir's.

"They will try to run to the green Honda about four blocks north of here, so I want Noonan, Jerry, and Ronda to stay here in case they split up and the rest of you to follow them when the run, I'll be waiting for them by the car." I commanded, I had noticed a car about four blocks away that belonged to their roommate, Jeremy McCoy. The Guardians dispersed, and I ran down the empty street to the car. About three minutes later I heard their footsteps, and one word that changed my perspective of Rosemarie, "_Run."_

I hid behind a bush about ten feet away from the car and stepped out in front of the two girls. They screeched to a halt and Rosemarie pulled the Princess to her body and stepped in front of her, shielding her from me. Which was kind of comical, it wasn't like I was going to hurt her.

"Leave her alone," she literally growled. This girl could be scary when she wanted to. "Don't touch her." Her beautiful face twisted into a scowl as I put my hands up in a calming gesture. She was livid, and according to her files, she was badass. I wasn't worried though, she probably didn't keep up her training while she was... away. I was confident that this would be fairly easy.

"I'm not going to-" I started to say, stepping forward slightly, when she leapt at me. I was a little shocked to say the least, but she was sloppy and slow. Probably due to the high she had from the bite. I knocked her off easily, but maybe a little too forcefully, as she was sent flying backwards. I hadn't meant to strike that hard, she stumbled and was having a hard time catching her footing, she was going to fall, and it was going to hurt, a lot. I quickly reached out and caught her arm, helping her to stay upright. That was when I noticed her neck; it was bleeding from the bite. She noticed me staring and flicked her hair over her shoulder so that it was covering the bite mark. She probably kept it this long for exactly this purpose. I started at the now covered mark for a moment and then met her eyes. She gave me a defiant look and jerked out of my hold. I could have easily held on to her, but that was unnecessary now. She wouldn't be getting away now. Rosemarie looked like she was about to pass out, but she went back to the Princess and braced herself for another attack. Was this girl serious? How in the world did they survive these two years on their own? I suspect they hadn't run into any Strigoi out here, otherwise, I don't think they would still be in front of me at the moment. That was pure luck. The Princess took Rosemarie's hand and whispered, "Rose, don't."

Rosemarie slowly began to relax a little, until finally she slumped in defeat. I was relieved, it would be plain stupid of her to try and attack me again. I stepped forward and announced why we were here, finally.

"My name is Dimitri Belikov," I stated, you could hear a faint Russian accent, "I've come to take you back to St. Vladimir's Academy, Princess."

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So what did you think? I know its been done a bunch of times... but still. I really wanted to know what goes on in his sexy head. So here it is. And also, if you are a reader of my other stories, I just want to let every one know that "Finding Family Once Lost" is on hold. I know, I know, I'm blocked for that one and writing is my escape so i created this.

Tell me what you liked, disliked, yada yada yada.

Thank you oh, so much for reading. Now all ya gotta do is hit that little review button and make me a happy author. :)

Much love,

~Brittany3


	2. Chapter 2

Hey, here's the second chapter, like I promised. I am not going to post the third chapter until tomorrow. My wrists ache from being at the computer too long. I also want to inform everyone that I will be going on vacation on Saturday for two weeks, then I plunge right into school... like I have to leave vacation early so I can go to school. Yea, I know. Anyways... I will try my very best not to leave you hanging. I put my other story on hold so I don't feel guilty about updating this one instead. I'm thinking that I will be awesome and give you two chapters tomorrow... I don't know for sure yet though. I think I owe it to you guys for starting this right before I go on vacation. So we will see.

And with that out of the way, ON WITH THE STORY!

ENJOY!

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We had taken the two girls to the Academy's private jet pretty quietly. We all boarded the jet and prepared for take-off. That's when I noticed that the girls where sitting close together whispering. No way. That was not going to fly.

"Don't let them talk to each other," I said to the guard ten feet away from them. What? Was he blind? They were clearly concocting a plan to escape again. These girls where smart, we all had to keep that in mind. "Five minutes together, and they'll come up with an escape plan." Rosemarie gave me a haughty look that told me that they _had_ been brewing a plan up to escape again. She looked away and stormed down the aisle. I had to suppress a grin. This girl was a piece of work. A beautiful piece of work, actually.

I closed my eyes tight for a few seconds. I shouldn't be thinking like that. It's completely inappropriate. It's wrong. I opened my eyes and went up front with the Princess. Vasilisa looked frightened. There must have been a reason that these two underage girls escaped the Academy. Rosemarie seemed so attuned to Vasilisa. It was like they shared the same mind, yet they were completely different. I wonder…. I wonder if they have a bond?

I suddenly heard a soft thud; I had dropped my water bottle on the floor. I leaned over and retrieved it. The Princess took in a heavy breath. I guessed she noticed my _molnija_ marks. I had six. A Guardian received _molnija_ marks when he or she kills a Strigoi. Six is considered quite a lot to most people; I could see Vasilisa stiffen slightly as I straightened up.

I sat up in the front of the jet until the flight was almost over; I wanted to ask Rosemarie some things. I walked back to where she was sitting and traded places with the Guardian that was already there. I sat down and she pointedly turned her head to the window, making it strikingly obvious that she was not in the mood to talk.

I sat there for a few moments before my curiosity got the better of me, "Where you really going to attack all of us?" I asked, it was a question that has been running through my head ever since she leapt at me.

She didn't answer. In fact, she didn't even respond at all.

"Doing that… protecting her like that- it was very brave." I said at last, I didn't know what exactly I wanted to say, but I wanted to say something. I paused, "_Stupid,_ but brave. Why did you even try it?" I asked. Not really expecting an answer. Surprisingly, she turned her head and brushed her hair out of her face o look at my levelly.

"Because I'm her Guardian." She simply said, and turned back to the window. I didn't tell her that I was, in fact, the Princess's Guardian, officially. I let that sink in a bit before I got up and left. She was older than she seemed. She knew what she was responsible for and took it seriously. Vasilisa meant a lot to her, I could tell. I went back to the front of the jet for the remainder of the flight.

When we finally landed, we all shuffled into a large SUV, and made our way to the Academy. We stopped at the gate, "Hello Guardian Belikov, you finally rounded them up, huh?" the gate attendant said with a smirk. I politely smiled back a nodded at him. He opened the gates to let us in, I sighed a huge sigh of relief. We had finally brought Rosemarie Hathaway and Vasilisa Dragomir back to the Academy.

It was about sunset,-the start of the vampiric day- and the campus lay wrapped in shadows. The school wasn't as old as the ones in Europe, but it had been built in the same way. The building boasted elaborate, almost churchlike architecture, with high peaks, and stone carvings. Wrought iron gates enclosed small gardens and doorways here and there. We were on the secondary campus, which was divided into upper and lower level schools. As we walked into the main part of the upper school, Rosemarie broke from her Guardian and came up to me.

""Hey, Comrade." Comrade? Where the hell did that come from? I kept walking ignoring her.

"You want to talk now?" I said. I was being childish.

""Are you taking us to Kirova?" she asked, no respect.

"_Headmistress_ Kirova," I corrected her. I say her glance at the Princess but didn't catch the look she gave Rosemarie.

"Headmistress. Whatever. She's still a self-righteous old bit-" her words faded as she realized where we were taking her- straight through the commons. There were about a dozen different ways to get to Headmistress Kirova's office, but we haven't spent almost a whole year looking for these two to not show off a little. It was good timing too- breakfast time. Everyone was in the dining hall, novice guardians, Dhampirs, and Moroi all sat laughing, socializing, and eating. When we entered all that stopped. Everyone stared at the two girls. They were quite famous for their "disappearance".

Their walk of shame ended at Headmistress Kirova's office. I knocked on her door and entered. Most of the Guardians dispersed to go do whatever they had to do; only Guardian Alberta Petrov and I stayed behind. We stood up behind everyone against the wall.

Headmistress Kirova opened her mouth, only to be interrupted by a deep, gentle voice coming from the corner.

"Vasilisa."

I looked over to where the voice came from and noticed that it was Prince Victor Dashkov. With a great deal of effort, he rose from the corner chair and the Princess sprang up and ran to him, throwing her arms around his frail body. "Uncle." She whispered. He smiled and gently patted her back. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you safe, Vasilisa." He looked over to Rosemarie. "And you too, Rose." She nodded at him; it looked like she was trying to hide her shock. Shock from what, I don't know. Headmistress Kirova let them have a few moments before drawing the Princess back to her seat. Ahhh, time for the lecture. I was actually looking forward to this; it would be kind of comical to watch. Vasilisa's lecture wasn't what I thought it would be, but that was kind of expected, I spaced out a few times during hers, I know I wasn't the only one though, Rose-as she liked to be called, apparently- was looking out the window looking every bit as spacey as she probably was.

"You, Miss Hathaway, broke the most sacred promise among our kind: the promise of a guardian to protect a Moroi. It is a great trust. A trust that you violated by selfishly taking the Princess away from here. The Strigoi would love to finish off the Dragomirs; you nearly enabled them to do it." She said, her voice cold, showing just how much she actually disliked Rose.

"Rose didn't kidnap me." Vasilisa spoke timidly, it was plainly clear that she was nervous. Rose just looked bored. "I wanted to go. Don't blame her." Ahhh. Even more evidence as to how close these two actually are. There is no doubt in my mind that these two girls have a bond.

Headmistress Kirova _tsk_ed at them both and paced the office, hands folded behind her narrow back.

"Miss Dragomir, you could have been the one to orchestrate the entire plan for all I know, but it was still _her_ responsibility to make sure you didn't carry it out. If shed done her duty, she would have kept you safe."

That's when Rose snapped.

"I _did_ do my duty!" she shouted, jumping up from her chair. Alberta and I both flinched, but made no move to restrain her, that was until she became violent... Which was very much possible. "I did keep her safe! I kept her safe when none of you"- she made a sweeping gesture around the room-"could do it. I took her away to protect her. I did what I had to do. You certainly weren't going to." Rose and the Princess definitely knew something that we did not, otherwise what she just said would have made a lot more sense.

Kirova stared at her, probably trying to figure out what she was talking about. "Miss Hathaway, forgive me if I fail to see the logic of how taking her out of a heavily guarded, magically secured environment is protecting her. Unless there's something you aren't telling us?" Rose bit her lip. It was bluntly obvious to me, I don't know how Kirova could miss this, but they were definitely keeping something a secret.

"I see. Well, then. By my estimation, the only reason you left-aside from the novelty of it, no doubt-was to avoid the consequences of that horrible, destructive stunt you pulled right before your disappearance."

"No, that's not-" Kirova cut her off.

"And that only makes my decision that much easier. As a Moroi, the Princess must continue on here at the Academy for her own safety, but we have no such obligations to you. You will be sent away as soon as possible." Rose just stared at her.

"I… what?"

Vasilisa stood up beside her. "You can't do that! She's my Guardian." She said.

"She is no such thing, particularly because she isn't even a Guardian at all. She's still a novice."

"But my parents-"

"I know what your parents wanted, God rest their souls, but things have changed. Miss Hathaway is expendable. She doesn't deserve to be a Guardian, and she will leave." Rose looked at her with disbelief, even I though that she was being a little bit harsh.

"Where are you going to send me? To my mom in Nepal? Did she even know I was gone? Or maybe you'll send me off to my _father_?" she hissed, Headmistress Kirova's eyes narrowed at the bite in that last word. When Rose spoke again, her voice went right to my spine, chilling me. "Or maybe you'll try to send me off to be a blood whore. Try that, and we'll be gone by the end of the day." I didn't doubt that for one minute, actually. They were very capable of breaking out of here again.

"Miss Hathaway, you are out of line." Kirova hissed at her, she was absolutely seething now. If nobody spoke up for her, she would be gone, either by her own way or my Kirova, and I couldn't let that happen. We couldn't let a bond like that go to waste, there hasn't been a bond like this in over centuries.

"They have a bond." I said, stepping forward. My voice broke the tension in the room and everybody turned to look at me. I looked straight at Rose, looked into her beautiful eyes… no, no, no. Stop it. Not here, not now, not EVER! "Rose knows what Vasilisa is feeling. Don't you?" I asked her, composing myself before anyone could notice my slip up

It was a change to see Headmistress Kirova of guard; she glanced between me and the girls. "No… that's impossible. That hasn't happened in centuries."

"It's obvious," I said. "I suspected as soon as I started watching them." The room stayed quiet and Rose turned from me, only proving my suspicions.

"This is a gift," murmured Victor from his corner. "A rare and wonderful thing."

"The best Guardians always had a bond," I added, "in the stories.

"Headmistress Kirova's outrage returned. "Stories that are centuries old," she exclaimed. "Surely you aren't suggesting that we let her stay at the Academy after everything she's done?"

I shrugged, "She might be wild and disrespectful, but if she has potential-" Rose cut me off.

"Wild and disrespectful?" she yelled. "Who the hell are you anyways? Outsourced help?" Ouch. What had I said? Oh yeah, that she as disrespectful.

"Guardian Belikov is the Princess's Guardian now," said Kirova a bit smugly, "Her _sanctioned_ Guardian."

"You got cheap foreign labor to protect Lissa?" Double ouch. Couldn't she see that I was trying to help her? Didn't she want to stay here? What was with this girl? No. More like what was with me? Why did I care if she were to stay here or not? It's not like she particularly fond of me, and I to her. Actually she is starting to annoy me. Greatly so. But I think she felt bad for saying that, the look in her eyes said she did. She still was getting on my nerves, but I couldn't let anything happen to her… I mean the bond. I couldn't let them be separated; this bond was something that needed to be taken seriously. It was a gift, like Prince Victor Dashkov had said earlier. That is why I am helping her. The bond. I am helping her because she is bonded with the Princess.

Headmistress Kirova threw her hands up in exasperation and turned to face me. "You see? Completely undisciplined! All the psychic bonds and _very_ raw potential in the world can't make up for that. A Guardian without discipline is worse than no Guardian at all." Now that just wasn't true. Yes, Discipline is very important in the profession, but having an undisciplined Guardian is better than leaving some Moroi completely defenseless against the Strigoi.

"So teach her discipline. Classes just started. Put her back in and get her training again."

"Impossible. She'll still be hopelessly behind her peers." She said.

"No, I wont," Rose jumped in, only to be ignored. I wonder if Headmistress Kirova even heard her speak.

"Then give her extra training sessions." I said, this was ridiculous. How hard was this going to be? Headmistress Kirova and I kept on discussing who this was going to work, Rose Vasilisa and Prince Victor just sat and watched us, I don't know why I was being so persistent about this.

"Who's going to put in the extra time?" demanded the Headmistress. "You?"

"I stopped talking for a second, she couldn't be serious. "Well, that's not what I-" the Headmistress crossed her arms in satisfaction.

"Yes. That's what I thought." She said, with a smug smile playing on her lips. I frowned. I don't know if I could handle mentoring Rose. She was a definite pain in the ass, and she definitely could use a filter on that mouth of hers. But strangely, I knew how to fix these things. And I wanted to. Which scared me. I made sure my face didn't display anything that was going on in my head. I looked over to the two girls sitting in front of me. They had big pleading eyes that just begged me to do as they pleased. I couldn't say no to them. It was absolutely impossible. Rose's eyes especially. They were like little pools of melted chocolate. These girls were runaways. They had broken out of a high-security school and swiped half of the Princess's inheritance. Clearly they needed help. They were running away from something, something horrible enough to have to leave the Academy. That's when I made my choice. If nobody else here can see what is going on then I have to help them, they can't do it by themselves. I sighed and looked over to Kirova.

"Yes," I said finally. "I can mentor Rose. I'll give her extra sessions along with her normal ones." I knew that I would regret this. I just knew it, but I couldn't say no to them. To her.

"And then what?" retorted Kirova angrily, she wanted Rose out. "She goes unpunished?"

"Find some other way to punish her," Yea, my intelligent response. "Guardian numbers have gone down too much to risk losing another. A girl, in particular." A comment Rose earlier came to mind, about her getting sent off to be a blood whore. Those communities weren't what everyone makes them out to be. I didn't understand what was so wrong about it, I grew up in one of those communities, I had not so much appreciated the Moroi men, but I had been quite happy.

Victor suddenly spoke from his corner, "I'm inclined to agree with Guardian Belikov. Sending Rose away would be a shame, a waste of talent."

The headmistress stared out her window, it was completely black outside. When she turned back around the Princess began to speak. "Please, Ms. Kirova. Let Rose stay." She said in a hypnotizing voice, I blinked a couple of times I was suddenly wary. Was the Princess trying to use compulsion on the Headmistress to let Rose stay? Could she actually do that? No Moroi had enough power in compulsion to use it on another Moroi. I don't know whether it worked or now, but finally, Kirova sighed.

""If Miss Hathaway stays, here's how it will be." She turned to look Rose in the eyes. "Your continued enrollment at St. Vladimir's is strictly probationary. Step out of line _once_, and your gone. You will attend all classes and required trainings for novices your age. You will also train with Guardian Belikov every spare moment you have- before _and_ after classes. Other than that, you are banned from all social activities, except meals, and will stay in your dorm. Fail to comply with any of this, and you will be sent… away." Rose barked out a laugh.

"Banned from all social activities? Are you trying to keep us apart?" she leaned into Vasilisa. "Afraid we'll run away again?"

"I'm taking precautions. As I'm sure you'll recall, you were never properly punished for destroying school property. You have a lot to make up for." Kirova pursed her lips. "You are being offered a very generous deal. I suggest you don't let your attitude endanger it." I was with Kirova with that one. Rose needed to watch that attitude of hers. I had a feeling it has gotten her in a lot of trouble before, and no doubt will get her into heaps of trouble in the future.

Rose started to say something, then she caught my eye. I gave her a look that said, _you are being an idiot. This is a very generous offer, do not screw it up._ She looked away from me and seemed to be contemplating something. She exhaled loudly and glanced back up to the headmistress.

"Fine. I accept."

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Whoo... that was a long one... like almost 3,500 words. That's crazy! And now you see why my wrists are all achey. So like I said before, I will not be posting the third chapter until tomorrow afternoon, at the earliest. I don't know about the fourth chapter yet, it depends on how long they both are. And, as stated before, I will be gone starting Saturday for two weeks. I know its brutal, Then i go straight to school. So I will do my best.

Please don't forget to review, just press the little button. It's calling for you. Let me know what you liked, what you didn't, what you wanna see.. all that stuff... Please, as many authors do, I accept criticism, just don't go bitching me out.

Thanks again.

Much love,

~Brittany3

Oh, P.S. I DON'T OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT THE THOUGHTS THAT I PUT IN HIS HEAD. EVERYTHING ELSE GOES TO RICHELLE MEAD, THE AUTHOR OF THE VAMPIRE ACADEMY NOVELS


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys, I know I said that the third chapter wouldn't be up today... but I couldn't help it. It was way to tempting. Screw my wrists. Who needs em anyways, haha.

Anyways... I am starting the fourth tonight so It will be up tomorrow morning before ten. I have an appointment at ten so you'll get it before hand. And the others probably will come in the evening, like i said before. Anyways, enjoy this little surprise, and please please please dont forget to leave me a little review. They make me so happy :)

Thank you, now Enjoy!

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Kirova sent the girls right to class after the little meeting was over. The Headmistress had Albert and I escort Rose to the Guardian's gym for her first period class. When we arrived, the reaction to Rose was anything but ordinary. They were in the middle of setting up when we entered the gym, and just like in the commons, all eyes fell on her. I kind of felt bad for her. Rose scanned the area, probably looking for a familiar face. When her eyes landed on one boy, a wide smile spread across her face.

"Hey Mason, wipe the drool off your face. If you are going to think about me naked, do it on your own time." She called out. Wow. Talk about an opening statement. I couldn't believe she had just said that, Alberta just shook her head and leaned up against the wall. There were a few snorts and snickers at Rose's comment, and the Mason kid snapped out of his daze sporting a lazy lopsided grin.

"This _is_ my time, Hathaway. I'm leading today's session."

"Oh, yeah?" she said, pretending to think for a moment. "Huh. Well, I guess this is a good time to think about me naked, then." I was sure my jaw couldn't get any closer to the ground. She wasn't _always_ like this, was she? Oh, God, what did I get myself into?

"It's _always_ a good time to think about you naked," added someone from the back of the room. I didn't catch who it was. This was getting ridiculous. It was obvious that she was nice to look at, but they didn't need to be discussing this right now. Rose needed as much practice as she could get to catch up to her peers. I shook my head and walked away. Muttering to myself in Russian. There was a _lot _of work to do with her. I walked out of the gym, going anywhere but here. I would have to catch up to her later though. I inwardly groaned. This was going to be a very long year. Why had I said yes again? Oh yes, because Rose had looked at me with those big, chocolate puppy eyes and I melted. What was happening to me? I'm turning into mush! Since when do I turn to mush at the puppy dog face? Never, had I ever done that. But I just couldn't say no. The bond. That is why I did this… they have a bond. I keep having to remind myself that. What the hell? I swore in Russian again.

I made my way around campus, looking for any classrooms that could use a Guardian. I stopped at Stan Alto's classroom. I didn't particularly like him, he was uptight, and rude, but I was bored out of my mind. I needed something to do. I slipped in the room and stood in the back. The class was almost over, and the students were getting ready to leave.

"Did I tell you to start packing up? We still have five minutes of class left." Guardian Alto barked, and he went on with his lecture. Finally the bell rang and the students filed out. New students filed in as Stan got all his material ready. He quickly left the classroom, probably to go to the bathroom as the rest of the class field in, including Rose. I suppressed a groan. This was going to be ugly.

Stan walked back into the room and he instantly looked pissed off. His eyes widened in mock surprise when he walked into the classroom, he circled the room and cam to stand right in front of her desk. I could already tell this wasn't going to end well.

"What's this? No one told me that we had a guest speaker here today. Rose Hathaway. What a privilege! How very _generous_ of you to take time out of your busy schedule and share your knowledge with us." He sneered. He was really pissing me off. He should _not_ be talking to a student that way, especially, _my_ student. Whoa, calm down Belikov. My fist clenched and unclenched.

"Is this really necessary?" I whispered to the nearest Guardian. He turned to look at me and gave me a _what more do you expect?_ look. I sighed.

Stan now gestured for Rose to stand up; I was actually surprised she hadn't told him to fuck off yet.

"Well, come on, come on. Don't sit there! Come up to the front so you can help me lecture the class." Rose sank in her seat.

"You don really mean-"

"I mean _exactly_ what I say, Hathaway. Go to the front of the class." A think silence enveloped the room. Stan was a scary instructor, and most of the class was too awed to laugh at her or bust stupid jokes. Refusing to crack, Rose strode up to the front of the room and turned to face the class. She gave the class a bold look and tossed her hair over her shoulder. That is when her eyes rested on me for a few short seconds before Stan barked at her.

"So, Hathaway," he said, with mock cheerfulness, strolling back up to the front of the room again. "Enlighten us on your protective techniques."

"My… techniques?"

"Oh course. Because presumably you must have had some sort of plan the rest of us couldn't understand when you took an underage Moroi royal out of the Academy and exposed her to constant Strigoi threats." This reminded me about what had happened earlier this morning in Headmistress Kirova's office, only with more witnesses.

"We never ran into any Strigoi," she replied stiffly.

"Obviously," he said with a mean snicker. Seriously, when was this guy going to give Rose a break? "I already figured that out, seeing as you're still alive." That was low. Rose looked like she was about to punch someone. Stan started to pace around the room.

"So what'd you do? How'd you make sure she stayed safe? Did you avoid going out at night?" what was with all the questions? At this point he wasn't going to have any time to lecture the class on what he was _supposed_ to be lecturing the class on.

"Sometimes."

"_Sometimes,"_ he repeated in a high-pitched voice, making her sound incredible stupid. This was just plain cruel. My fists started to clench again. My knuckles were turning white. I didn't know why I was getting so pissed off. This girl had no ties to me, yet I felt like it was my job to protect her, even from a fellow Guardian such as Stan. What he was doing was beyond inappropriate. It was harassment. "Well then, I suppose you slept during the day and stayed on guard at night."

"Er… no."

"No? But that's one of the first things mentioned in the chapter on solo guarding. Oh wait, you wouldn't know that because _you weren't here._" I could tell Rose was swallowing her tongue, the look on her face told me that she would have gladly put him in his place if she wouldn't get in trouble for it and if she weren't in front of the class.

"I watched the area whenever we went out," she said, I wanted to defend her so badly it hurt. It hurt even more when I realized that it shouldn't hurt that bad.

"Oh? Well that's something. Did you use Carnegie's Quadrant Surveillance Method or the Rotational Survey?" she stayed quiet.

"Ah. I'm guessing you used the Hathaway Glance-Around-When-You-Remember-To Method." I could tell Rose was getting close to her boiling point. I was seriously please that she had held out this long. It was quite impressive, considering her past… conflicts with others.

"No!" she yelled angrily. "That's not true! I watched her. She's still alive, isn't she?" I was feeling sorrier for her after every word that came out of his mouth. Stan was way out of line. And we couldn't do squat about it. Damn it.

Stan walked right up to her and leaned into her face, "Because you got _lucky._"

"Strigoi aren't lurking around every corner out there," she shot back. "It's not like what we've been taught. It's safer than what you guys make it sound."

"Safer? _Safer?_ We are at war with the Strigoi!" He yelled in her face. I could just imagine being in her place... I bet she could smell his breakfast on his breath. I wanted to gag.

"One of then could walk right up to you and snap your pretty little neck before you even notice him-and he'd barely break a sweat doing it." He was right, she did have a pretty neck. I shook my head, this was insane. I have to stop this. It's not good… it can't be healthy. I'm sure. "You may have more speed and strength than a Moroi or a human, but you are nothing, _nothing_, compared to a Strigoi. They are deadly, and they are powerful. And do you know what makes them powerful?" Rose looked like she was about to cry, she pulled herself together though, quicker than I though she would be able to. She turned away from Stan and looked directly at me. I could see what she was seeing. The stone –faced Guardians in the back of the room, watching her humiliation.

"Moroi blood." She whispered, almost too quiet for us in the back to hear.

"What was that?" Stan asked loudly. "I didn't catch it." He said, even though all of us knew that he had.

Rose spun around to face him quicker than I thought possible and yelled in his face. "Moroi blood! Moroi blood makes them stronger." Stan nodded in satisfaction and I thought he was about done, until he started to speak again. This guy was asking for a serious ass-whooping. He took a few steps back from Rose, which made me feel a little less pissed. Just a little. Just a smudge really. More like a pinch. Actually it didn't make me feel better at all. It pissed me off more; I didn't even understand how that made sense.

"Yes. It does. It makes them stronger and harder to destroy. They'll kill and drink from a human or a Dhampir, but they want Moroi blood more than anything else. They seek it. They've turned to the dark side to gain immortality. Desperate Strigoi have attacked Moroi in public. Groups of Strigoi have raided Academies exactly like this one. There are Strigoi who lived for thousands of years and fed off of generations of Moroi. They're almost impossible to kill. And _that_ is why Moroi numbers are dropping. They aren't strong enough-even with Guardians- to protect themselves. Some Moroi don't even see the point of running anymore and are simply turning Strigoi by choice. And as the Moroi disappear…"

"…so do the Dhampirs," she finished flatly.

"Well," he said, visibly spitting while he was talking. "It looks like you learned something after all. Now we'll have to see if you can learn enough to pass this class and qualify for your field experience next semester." Ouch. That was cruel. And in the end, Stan was able to lecture the class on everything he had in the previous class. Damn. He was one efficient bastard.

The class ended and Rose was the first out the door. Not surprising, I wanted to follow her and ask if she as okay, but I didn't. I was not in a place where I could do that. I barely knew the kid. I stayed in that class until the universal lunch period. I found Rose stumbling her way through the commons; I fell in step with her easily.

"I suppose you saw what happened in Stan's class?" she asked, not bothering to call him by what he should be called by a student. Guardian Alto.

I replied simply. I didn't want to say something that would reveal how angry that class had made me. "Yes."

"And you don't think that was unfair?" I thought it was completely unfair how he had done that in the way that he had, but he wants exactly wrong. He still pissed the hell out of me, but he did bring up a good point, I could see that now.

"Was he right? Do you think you were fully prepared to protect Vasilisa?"

Rose looked at her feet. "I kept her alive." She mumbled.

"How did you do fighting against your classmates today?" I asked her. I knew the question was mean, but she needed to understand this. No matter how angry and pissed off I got at Stan I couldn't deny he had a point. I was her mentor; it was my job to help her understand this.

"If you can't fight _them_-"

"Yeah, yea, I know." She snapped. I wonder how many times she had heard that line this morning. I slowed my stride to match her painfully slow one. Now doubt was she in a lot of pain. "You are strong and fast by nature. You just need to keep yourself trained. Didn't you play any sports while you were gone?"

"Sure," she shrugged. "Now and then." Why did I get the feeling that meant a no?

"You didn't join any teams?"

"Too much work. If I'd wanted to practice that much, I'd have stayed here." She was going to be a handful during practice. I just hoped she wasn't the whiney type. Or the complaining type. But something told me not to get my hopes up. I gave her an exasperated look. "You'll never be able to really protect the Princess if you don't hone your skills. You'll always be lacking." I told her.

"I'll be able to protect her." She said fiercely, and in that instant I knew she would be great.

"You have no guarantees of being assigned to her, you know-for your field experience _or_ after you graduate." I said, telling her the dead truth. I didn't let any emotion into my voice. That wasn't who I was. "No one wants to waste the bond- but no ones going to give her an inadequate Guardian either. If you want to be with her, then you have to work for it. You have your lessons. And you have me. Use us or don't. You're an ideal choice to guard Vasilisa when you both graduate- if you can prove you are worthy. I hope you will." I finished my speech and I don't think I have ever talked that much solo in a few years actually. I usually don't speak much. I hoped that my little speech would give her the motivation to not be so unenthusiastic about all of the training she will be going through. But what she said next disappointed me more that I would ever let anyone know. It was like everything I had just said went right through her. Like she wasn't even listening to what I was saying. It pissed e off more than I realized and after I walked away, out of her reach, I punched the nearest wall. It hurt, sure, but it made me feel better. I went to my room after that and just sat there… thinking about what happened today. I found the two escapees. I saved one of them from being sent away. I watched as she got beat up in combat classes and harassed in Stan's class. And... I don't even know what happened. All I know is that today I met Rosemarie Hathaway... and I can't get her out of my head.

* * *

So i hope you enjoyed it, I know I enjoyed writing it. I just couldn't help myself. I have nothing better to do anyways, right? Haha, so you know what to do. Please review and leave me a little something to work with here. I gotta know if its worth continuing or not. I dont want to waste my time on something you guys dont wan to read. So tell me what you liked, what you didnt, what you thought i did great on and what i did poorly on. Just be nice, always nice.

Thanks so much.

Much love,

~Brittany 3

P.S. I dont know why i keep forgetting this. Gah. I DON'T OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR THE THOUGHTS I PUT IN DIMITRI'S HEAD. IT ALL BELONGS TO RICHELLE MEAD, THE AUTHOR THE THE VAMPIRE NOVELS.

Thanks... also.. do i really have to put up a disclaimer for every chapter? If i said it once, I've said it a million times.. right? haha.


	4. Chapter 4

HEY GUYS. Well, here's chapter four. I know its really short.. there wasn't a lot to work with in this chapter so.. the next one will be longer, I promise. Expect the next one this evening. I dont know if I'm going to do two or not later... so we'll see.

As always, please enjoy, its for your reading enjoyment. :)

Now, on with the story!

* * *

_I was running. I didn't know what I was running from, though I had had this dream many times before. Maybe I was running _to_ something… not away from it. And that's when I heard the blood curdling scream. It came from my charge. My best friend. I ran faster, faster than I thought was possible. I made it just in time to see the Strigoi rip into his throat. I saw red. I was in denial. I was livid. And I was dangerous. Without a blink of the eye, I grabbed my stake from my belt and lunged at the Strigoi. We dance, he landed a few blows, I landed a few more, when finally I saw an opening and striked. I got him plainly in the heart. He was a goner. Along with my charge and his second Guardian. He was my best friend. And it as my fault that he was dead. I hung my head. Moments later when I picked my head up I was surrounded by Strigoi. Thousands upon thousands had me cornered. And one face stuck out. The killer of my charge. It confused me, I had killed him. _

_Apparently not, because he lunged. And just as his teeth pierced my skin, my eyes snapped open._

I shot up in bed. The sheets were tangled around my legs and there was a sheen of sweat over my entire body. I let out a loud sigh and ran my hand along my face for a moment. I needed a break from this. Sleep. It wasn't my thing. I got out of bed with a grunt and changed into more appropriate clothes. I brushed my teeth and tied my hair into a tight ponytail at the nape of my neck before I left my room. I didn't know what I was going to do, or where I was going. But I let my feet do the walking.

I rubbed the back of my neck where there were six little marks along with my Promise Mark. _Molnija _marks. They represented the six Strigoi that I killed. I felt a twinge of sadness. They had been people once too. They had not always been evil dwellers of the night. I sighed.

"Belikov? It's not your shift." I looked up to see one of the Guardians that had been on the mission with me. Noonan I believe. He was patrolling the North half of the upper school campus. Hmmm…

"I know. I'm here to take over for you." I said, walking up to him. He gave a questioning look; I bet he was thinking I was crazy. Maybe I was, it would explain a lot of what was happening to me lately.

"Don't you ever sleep?" he asked me. Sleep. Yeah. Not my thing.

"I get enough."

"Alright. Thanks Belikov." He said before giving me one more look and rushing off. Probably to his room.

I patrolled the area until the next Guardian came to take my place. We exchanged a few words and I left. It was time for practice with Rose. Ah Rose… beautiful, smart, witty… a pain in the ass, disrespectful, wild, unreasonable… responsible, determined…. What was I thinking? This was Rose that we are talking about. She was a student here at the Academy. She was _my_ student. This wasn't like me at all.

I spotted Rose a few minutes later. She was talking to the Princess. "Alright then," She said. "We'll see how this goes. If anything goes wrong-anything at all-we leave. No arguments." She stated. This couldn't be good. Were they already concocting a plan to leave? The Princess nodded slowly.

"Rose?" Both girls turned their heads to look at me. It was kind of creepy, the way they were always so attuned. "You are late for practice." I said, turning to Vasilisa, "Princess." I gave her a polite nod. Rose and I walked to the gym in silence. I wonder what she was thinking. Could it possibly be another way to escape? No. I wasn't so sure. She had a worried expression on her face, was she worried for the Princess? No doubt. They hadn't left this place just for the fun of it. There must be something... here.

Suddenly, Rose stopped walking. She had a spaced look in her eyes that made it look like she wasn't really here. Her eyes were moving back and forth as if she were dreaming. What the hell was happening? "Rose?" I called her name to see if she would snap out of it. She didn't.

* * *

Hey, sorry for the shortness. I know, I know. It sucks. But its what I can do. Please leave me a little review, tell me what you liked, what you didn't... you know the drill. Reviews make me happy (:

Much love,

~Brittany3


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys, So here is the fifth chapter. I have some bad news. I dont know if I will be able to finish the next chapter by tonight. My dad is picking me up earlier than i thought, actually, he is picking me up a whole _day_ earlier than i thought, so I will start it, and if I can finish it, then i will put it up, but if not.. then i guess this is what you guys get until I get back. I'm sorry guys, I didn't know this was going to happen, I really wanted to get at least eight chapters out as of tonight, but i guess that's not gong to happen. Well, enjoy the Chapter, its a little shorter then what they have been, but it is about two times longer than the last one. Sorry about that, again. Haha, anyways, on with the story!

Enjoy!

* * *

She just stood there. Eyes wide, not seeing anything in front of her. "Rose!" I walked up to her and shook her a little bit. "Hello, Rose?" this was starting to scare me. What was this? Some kind of joke? "Rose? Rose?" I put my hands on her shoulder and shook her. After a few agonizing seconds, she blinked and her eyes focused. I sighed in relief. That was some scary shit.

"Are you alright?"

"I… yeah. I was… with Lissa…" she put a hand on her forehead. Did she have a headache? Did I need to bring her to the infirmary? "I was in her head." That took me by surprise. In her… head? What?

"Her… head?" I wad beyond confused.

"Is she alright?" I finally asked. There must have been something wrong, if Rose went into Vasilisa's head.

"Yeah, she's…" Rose paused. She was beyond frustrating me. If the Princess is in danger, then it would be nice to know _now._ She _was_ my charge after all. "She's not in danger." She said at last. I eyed her. She looked fine, but I don't know how these things work.

"Can you keep going?" I asked, if this takes a lot out of her… I don't know if this was dangerous. I didn't know if I should be worried, concerned. What kind of effect did going into the Princess's head have on her? On the Princess even?

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, and started walking again. As before, we walked in comfortable silence. It was kind of… nice. You could say. When she wasn't being obnoxious or disrespectful, she could be quite… pleasurable to be with. When we got to the gym I let her change and do whatever else girls do before exercising. She came out with tight exercise shorts and a white T-shirt tied at the back. She was… dare I say…. Hot. I shook my head. Enough of that.

When she came out she suggested tome that maybe I should let her off today. She was already aching. I laughed. She didn't actually think that I would let her off on the first day… did she?

"Why is that so funny." I looked at her.

"Oh," I said; my smile dropping. "You were serious." She actually thought that she had a chance of getting out of practice today. Yeah. Of course I would let her off today. Not.

"Of course I was! Look, I've technically been awake for _two_ days. Why do we have to start this training now? Let me to go bed," so I take it she was a whiner. Great. "Its just one hour."

I crossed my arms and looked at her. There was not way in _Hell_ that I would be letting her off today. She would feel worse tomorrow; why not get it over with when she is feeling not as bad? "How do you feel right now? After the training you've done so far?" I asked her, knowing the answer myself.

"I hurt like hell."

"You'll feel worse tomorrow.

"So?" she didn't get it, did she?

"So, better jump in now while you still feel… not as bad."

"What kind of logic is that?" Mine. She didn't argue after that, so I led her to the weight room for strength conditioning. I showed her all the weights and reps I wanted her to do then sprawled in the corner reading one of my favorite Western Novels. I loved Westerns. I loved the idea of justice being served.

When she was finished, I went to stand beside her and show her a few cool-down stretches.

"How'd you end up as Lissa's Guardian?" she asked. "You weren't here a few years ago. Were you even trained at this school?" she asked me. This really wasn't what I wanted to talk about, but I knew it would have had to come up some time.

"No. I attended the one in Siberia." I said finally. I wasn't completely comfortable talking about myself with her.

"Whoa, that's got to be the only place worse that Montana." I was kind of funny that she thought Siberia was worse than here. The one place I wanted to be at any given moment was Siberia. My home.

"After I graduated, I was a Guardian for a Zeklos lord. He was killed recently." My face dropped as I remembered him. He had been my best friend. If I hadn't gone on that relief vacation. If I had just been there, maybe I could have kept him alive. "They sent me here because they needed extras on campus. When the Princess turned up, they assigned me to her, since I'd already been around. Not that it matters until she leaves campus." It was true. The Princess didn't need me while she was here on campus. With the wards, it was nearly impossible for a Strigoi to break into the school.

"Did this lord die on your watch?" she asked.

"No. he was with his other Guardian. I was away." and if I wasn't, he might still be alive. I added. If I hadn't been on leave. If I hadn't been so selfish... maybe he would still be alive. Maybe I wouldn't be in this situation right now. I could have saved two lives if I hadn't been on leave. The damn Strigoi killed both my fellow Guardian and our charge. And he got away. There is one more Strigoi out there because I was on leave. This will never happen to the Princess. I would not be taking any leaves this time. Vasilisa was too valuable and to precious for me to be on leave. I would be worrying about her the whole time anyways. Completely useless.

"Hey," Rose said in a soft voice, "Did you help come up with the plan to get us back? Because it was pretty good. Brute force and all that." she said, no doubt trying to cheer me up a bit. But was she seriously complimenting me on _that?_ I arched an eyebrow at her curiously. "You're complimenting me on that?"

"Well, it was a hell of a lot better than the last one they tried." The last one? There had only been one rescue mission that I was aware of. And I was pretty sure that I would have been told if there had been a previous mission. Was somebody else after them? This was information that needed to be told to Headmistress Kirova as soon as possible. Was it possible tat somebody else had found the girls before us?

"Last one?" I said like an idiot.

"Yeah. In Chicago. With the pack of Psi-hounds." Psi-hounds? Does the school even own Psi-hounds?

"This was the first time we found you. In Portland." She sat up and crossed her legs.

"Um, I don't think I imagined the Psi-hounds. They only answer to Moroi. Maybe no one told you about it." She said. I doubted it.

"Maybe," I said, trying to end this conversation. There was no way the school sent Psi-hounds after them. What good would they do anyway?

After our conversation Rose left to go to her dorm. I knew she would go straight to her room due to her painful first day back. I took my time, going through a few extra exercises of my own before I left for my own dorm. I had no shift tonight, so I could relax a little.

When I finally made it back to my room, I was covered in a thin blanket of sweat, from doing weights in the gym and going for a two mile run. I stripped and jumped in the shower. The water was warm on my skin, relaxing my tense muscles. My shower lasted a lot longer than I anticipated, maybe I was a little wound up from everything that has happened in the last twenty-four hours, I don't know. But it felt nice.

I wrapped a towel around myself and padded out to my room, picking out some comfy pajama pants and a cotton tee. I grabbed the closest Western novel and started reading.

I didn't know when I fell asleep, but when I opened my eyes and looked at the clock, I was running ten minutes late. Shit. I swore in Russian, rushing around my room I got ready in record time, arriving at the gym five minutes before Rose. I would never hear the end of it if I was late.

As I predicted, Rose was ten times more sore than she was yesterday. I took it easy this morning, but only a little. I didn't want to kill the girl. The hour went by faster than I would have liked. I showed her what I wanted her to do, and sat down with the Western I had fallen asleep with last night. I was just getting to the good part, when she came up to me and stated that she was finished I hadn't realized that a whole hour had gone by. Oh, where does the time go?

The rest of the day went by that quickly. It was a shame. I didn't get to see Rose. It was lunch time before I even knew it I went to the Guardian's lounge and pulled some bread and turkey out of the fridge. When I was finished making my sandwich I sat down in one of the chairs in the corner of the room, I had brought the Western novel with me and I intended to finish it today. Not ten minutes later, a group of teacher Guardians filed in for their lunch break. Including Stan. He was ranting about how irresponsible and rude Rose had been in class.

"Its like she doesn't care if she becomes a Guardian or not! Her behavior is completely out of line! She should have never been allowed to stay here. She is just to impulsive and dangerous." He was saying. A few murmured their agreements and he went on. After about ten minutes, I had heard enough.

"What is your problem, Stan?" I said form my corner, he looked up from his lunch and looked at me like I was crazy.

"What is your problem, Guardian Belikov? Rosemarie Hathaway should not have been allowed to continue her education here. Truthfully, she doesn't deserve to be a Guardian at all." He said angrily. "What's your problem? Do you think she should _stay?_" he seethed.

"She has every right to be here. My problem is that you don't see how determined she is to protect the Princess. She may be rude and disrespectful, but what you are saying is completely unjustified. She has talent, and she was allowed to stay here because I believe that she will be a great Guardian when she finishes her training." He had no right to say these things about Rose, sure she wasn't his favorite person, most likely she was his most _dis_liked person. Actually, it was bluntly obvious that he hated Rose with a fiery passion, but that still didn't justify what he was saying. He was the one being rude and disrespectful, and honestly, childish. I stood up to leave. I couldn't take ant more of this, or I would punch something.

I quickly left the lounge and went to the gym to work off my steam. What the hell what wrong with me?

* * *

So, tell me what you think. He stood up for Rose, he's such a sweetheart. I guess at this point, he's a little confused about what he's feeling and is in denial about Rose. I guess you'll just have to review and tell me what you guys want, what you dont and what you liked and didn't like. Give me some ideas on things that he can be doing while he's away from Rose. Those parts are, obviously the hardest to write.

Oh, and do you think I need a Beta?

Please leave me a review, all authors (including me, of course) love 'em! :)

Much love,

~Brittany3

Gah, not again. P.S. I DON'T OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT THE THOUGHTS I PUT IN DIMITRI'S DEAD, EVERYTHING ELSE BELONGS TO RICHELLE MEAD, THE AUTHOR OF THE VAMPIRE ACADEMY NOVELS.


	6. Chapter 6

Hey guys, I just wanted to let you know that I will be continuing the story, but I'm not sure how fast i can update.. weekly maybe? I don't know, I'm in school now so I can't really update as fast as I could before.

Sorry for such a short Chapter, but there really wasn't much to work with here... I'm off school for today so I might be posting the next chapter later. I don't know.

And on with the story:

* * *

Today was Sunday. I woke up early so I could attend church. I didn't really believe in God, or listen to the sermon, but it was a good place to think. To feel sorry for everything wrong that I had done and to mourn the loss of my former charge. He had been my best friend. I couldn't even think his name without feel a pang of guilt and anger. I sat in the last pew, away from everyone else. I needed my space to think.

A few minutes before the sermon started Rose and the Princess walked through the doors closest to me. I was kind of surprised to see them here. That is until they sat down and started whispering. That made much more sense. I suspected Rose went to Headmistress Kirova and asked if attending church was okay. She found another loophole in the agreement she and Kirova made. But I guess there was no way she could legitimately say no to Rose asking to go to church. It was just one of those things.

"Following God's path is never easy…" and so it began. I tuned out and dwelled in my own thoughts. I thought about different things. I thought about all of the Strigoi I killed, about my former charge, but I mostly thought about Rose. I didn't stop myself from looking over at her every now and then. She was just too beautiful for her own good. It wasn't my fault. I didn't even yell at myself for thinking about her. It just seemed… right.

Before I even realized what happened, people started shuffling out of the chapel. Was the sermon already over? I looked around the room and saw Rose talking to the priest. I did a double take. What? He gave her a book and she turned away, I could tell by the look on her face that she did _not_ agree with whatever the priest had just told her. Rose walked over to Lissa who was talking to some Moroi boy. After a few moments her and Lissa left, not ten seconds later I heard a yelp and multiple squeals. I shot out of my seat immediately and started rushing over to see what happened, only to stop in the doorway with a slightly amused expression on my face. Rose and Lissa had stepped out just at the right time and a mini avalanche of melted snow cascaded down on top of them. The Princess had taken the brunt of it.

"You okay?" I heard Rose ask Lissa. Her coat was drenched, and her platinum hair clung to the sides of her face.

"Y-yeah." She said through chattering teeth. Then Rose did something that surprised me. She took over her coat and handed it to the Princess. "Take yours off." She said.

"But you'll be-"

"Take this." When she finally did, she slid the some-what dry coat over her shoulders. This is when I noticed the surrounding people laughing at her. Rose seemed to not have noticed.

"Wish you hadn't been wearing a coat, Rose," said an unusually bulky and plump Moroi. I instantly hated him. "That shirt would have looked good wet." Rose shot him a deadly glare and he walked away.

"That shirt's so ugly it should be burned. Did you get that from a homeless person?" a short Moroi with blonde curls said with a sneer. Uh-oh. This can't end well.

"I suppose you want to offer to burn it, huh?" Rose said, I could tell she was trying to hide how much that comment bugged her. I could see how it would have hit close to home, seeing as she didn't have many belongings let alone that many clothes.

"Oh, wait-fire isn't your element, is it? You work with water. What a coincidence that a bunch just fell on us." Oh. I should be ending this right now, but I couldn't move. I was too enthralled with Rose. Her fierceness. Her smartness. Her Rose-ness.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said the short blonde Moroi. I think her name was Mia?

"Nothing to me," Rose said. "But Ms. Kirova will probably have something to say when she finds out you used magic against another student."

"That wasn't an attack," Mia scoffed. "And it wasn't me. It was an act of God." A few of the still surrounding students laughed. Rose looked like she needed to hit something. And it looked like she was just on the verge of hitting Mia square in the face, until Lissa nudged her arm and whispered something I couldn't hear. Then, she and Lissa walked off. Mia just stared after them with an air of smugness and victory. I had an uncanny feeling that this little battle was not over. I suppressed a sigh and walked out of the chapel. I gave Mia a _you-should-_not_-have-done-that_ look and walked away. I had shift that I didn't want to be late for.

Soon it was lunch time. I waited impatiently for the Guardian after me to show up so I could to the Guardian's lounge for lunch. Twenty minutes later Guardian Marshall showed up. He apologized for being so late and promised to make it up to me. I told him not to worry about it. I didn't mind. But, in truth, I really did mind.

I walked across campus to the Guardian Dorms to grab my book, and then I went to the lounge, put together a turkey and cheese sandwich, and sat down at my usual corner table. There were still a few Guardians eating lunch when Stan walked in. Immediately, I felt my lunch come back up. The guy just disgusted me. I pulled myself together and grabbed my book and the rest of my lunch. As I got up to leave, I heard Stan bring up the topic of Rose and Mia's rivalry. My fists clenched and unclenched and my teeth ground together. I wanted to smack him.

* * *

Okay, so again, sorry for the shortness. I didn't really know what else to put... so this is it for now I guess.

A little review wont hurt, tell me what you liked, what you didn't, what you think I should include and all that.

Thanks again, I appreciate it.

~Brittany3


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys. Here's the next chapter! Whoo! I liked this one. I hadn't realised how long it was until I finished it. Haha. It's an improvemnt from the last chater. I know it was short.

And there seems to be a problem with reviews for Chapter 6. Someone enlightened me on a little problem that has come up. Thank you amberrosalie for acknowledging the fact that you were having troubles reviewing. I think I know why though, I posted an A/N for the first Chapter 6 and then deleted it when I went to post the actual chapter. So all of you who had reviewed on the first Chapter 6 I posted, you wouldn't be able to review on the new Chapter. So, if anyone is confused or what ever or would just like to give me your intake on the last Chapter, just PM me (like amberrosalie did). Terribly sorry for the inconvenience guys.

So on with the story. ENJOY! :)

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A couple of weeks passed and the shock of Rose's and the Princess's return wore off. They seemed to be trying to stay out of the spotlight. With Rose's almost non-existing free time, it was easy for her to stay out of the spot light, but with Lissa, on the other hand, her new incognito role attracted attention simply because it was so different than before they had left, because she had been so active with the other Royals. Most people let it go, after the first few days, accepting that the Dragomir Princess would rather "coast through the middle".

Because Rose had almost no free time, that meant I had almost no free time. Kirova and I had come up with a schedule for Rose's extra training, and it took up a _lot_ of time. The more training we did, the better Rose became. Her stamina increased and her muscles grew tougher. She was still getter her ass kicked in practice, but soon that will stop. She would be a real asset to the Guardians when she graduates. I know it.

I was sprawled on one of the mats before practice reading my favorite L'Amour novel. I had brought in a CD player for practice today and it was currently playing "When Doves Cry" by Prince.

"Whoa, Dimitri," Rose said, walking into the gym and tossing her bag on the floor by the door. "I realize this is actually a current hit in Eastern Europe right now, but do you think we could actually listen to something that wasn't recorded before I was born?" she said, my eyes flickered to hers. It didn't really matter what she thought of my music, she was going to be outside anyways.

"What does it matter to you? I'm the one who is going to be listening to it. You'll be running outside." She made a face and started stretching her hamstrings. It was all I could do to not watch her. My books have become a sort of distraction; I don't merely read them for pleasure anymore. They give my eyes something else to look at other then the beautiful creature that is before me.

After a few moments of relaxing silence, Rose says, "Hey, what's with all the running, anyway? I mean, I realize the importance of stamina and all that, but shouldn't I be on to something with a little bit more hitting? They're still killing me in group practice." She starts moving onto the next set of stretches.

"Maybe you should hit harder." I say, maybe a little dryly.

"I'm serious." She says exasperated.

"Hard to tell the difference." I say as I put my book down, careful not to lose my page. "My job is to get you ready to defend the Princess and fight dark creatures, right?"

"Yup."

"So tell me this: suppose you manage to kidnap her again and take her off to the mall. While you're there, a Strigoi comes at you. What will you do?" I say, knowing what she'll say, just because she's Rose.

"Depends on what store we're in." I just look at her. I was expecting her difficulty. "Fine. I'll stab him with a silver stake." Ah. This is what I wanted. I sat up, crossing my legs in one fluid motion.

"Oh?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "Do you even have a silver stake? Do you even know how to use one?" I said, knowing that she most definitely did _not_ know how to use one.

There were three ways to kill a Strigoi. You could stab him in the heart with a magic-encrusted silver stake. You could decapitate him. Which was the most difficult, you would have to cut through his spinal cord, which takes a lot of force. And lastly, you can burn them to death. Which is also hard because it takes so long for them to completely burn.

"Okay, I'll cut his head off."

"Ignoring that fact that you don't have a weapon to do that, how will you compensate for the fact that he may be a foot taller than you?" I knew I was being hard on her, but she needs to understand that there are a lot of variables when dealing with Strigoi that could end up fatal for her, and the Princess.

The look on her face told me she was annoyed. "Fine, then I'll set him on fire."

"Again, with what?" This was actually kind of amusing.

"All right, I give up. You've already got the answer. You're just messing with me. I'm at the mall and I see a Strigoi. What do I do?" Was she serious? The answer is plainly simple.

I look at her without blinking, "You run." I could tell she wanted to throw something at me. I suppressed a smile.

When she finished her stretches I tell her that I'll run with her. I don't know what possessed me to do this, but it felt right. We stepped out into the cool October evening. School was starting in an hour so the sun was just setting on the Western Horizon, lighting up the snow-capped mountains with an orange glow. I took a deep breath and felt the icy air pierce my lungs. We didn't speak. I slowed my pace to match hers so we would stay together. But as soon as I did she picked up her own pace.

When we reached the third lap-to-last loop, a couple of the other novices passed by, probably preparing for the group practice Rose would soon be at. One of the boys saw Rose and yelled, "Good form, Rose!" she smiled and waved. This ticked me off. Couldn't they see Rose was preoccupied? Why couldn't they leave her alone? I knew the answer though; I just didn't want to admit it to myself. Because admitting it to myself would be admitting I thought of her that way too. Which I don't.

"You're slowing down," I snapped at her, maybe a little to harshly. Her gaze snapped away from the boys and she looked at me out of the corner of her eye. "Is this why your times aren't getting any faster? Because you are easily distracted?" I didn't know where my filter had gone, because as soon as I said that I regretted it. I was being unjustifiably rude. But to my surprise she picked up her pace again, and when we finished the twelve laps I checked our times and we had shaved two whole minutes off her best time. Wow. That was impressive. Was it my influence that made her run faster? Did I even have that much influence on her?

"Not bad, huh?" she crowed when we went back inside for the cool down stretches. "Looks like I could get as far as the Limited before the Strigoi got me at the mall. Not sure how Lissa would do." She said.

"If she was with you, she would be okay." I said. The look on her face was shocked. Was it really that surprising that I thought she was going to be a good Guardian? I looked at her with approval when it happened. She doubled over and a glazed expression on fear and terror contorted her features. My heart skipped a beat. What the hell was happening! A few more moments passed by and her eyes cleared, I was about to ask her what had happened, when she bolted. She ran all the way to the Moroi Dorm and I knew it had something to do with Lissa.

I ran after Rose, my long legs helping me catch up with her easily. "Rose, what's wrong?" I yelled at her repeatedly, until finally Lissa met us halfway. Rose came to a jarring stop, breathing as if her lungs were about to burst.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Rose demanded, clutching the Princess's arms, forcing her to look her in the eyes. The Princess just flung her arms around Rose, sobbing into her shoulder. Rose held her there, stroking her sleek, silky hair all the while murmuring softly that everything was going to be all right. That's when I realized how much Rose actually cared about Lissa, and how much Lissa depended on Rose to be there for her. I was hovering over them, poised, body coiled ready for any attack. I still didn't know what had happened to Lissa to have her breakdown like this.

A half and hour later, we were crammed inside Lissa's dorm room with three other Guardians, Headmistress Kirova, and the Hall Matron, Steve. The two sides of the rooms stood in stunning contrast. Lissa's roommate, Natalie's side looked actually lived in, with pictures on the wall and a frilly bedspread that was most definitely not dorm-issue. Lissa only had a few possessions, making her side look noticeably bear. I did notice one picture though. One of Lissa and Rose. It looked like she and Rose had dressed up for Halloween one year while they were gone from the Academy. The two girls looked significantly younger in the picture and were both dressed up in some sort of fairy costume, complete with wings and glittery make-up.

Technically, Rose want supposed to be here, but at a time like this, it was probably better that she was here with Lissa. She needed the kind of comfort that only Rose could give her. I didn't say anything. Outside in the hall, other Moroi girls crowded together, trying to figure out what was going on. Natalie, Lissa's roommate shoved her way through the crowd, most likely wondering what the hell was going on in her dorm. When she finally made it into the room and laid eyes on Lissa's bed, she came to a screeching halt.

Shock and disgust showed on almost everyone's faces, including mine, as they stared at Lissa's bed. There was a fox on the pillow. Its coat was reddish-orange, tinged in white. It looked as if it could have been a pet, fur soft and thick, it was something you'd hold in your hands and couldn't resist cuddling with.

Aside from the fact that its throat had been slit.

The inside of the throat looked pink and jell-like. Blood stained the soft coat and had run down onto the yellow bedspread, forming a dark pool that spread across the fabric. The poor fox's eyes stared upwards, glazed, over with a sort of shocked look about them, like the fox couldn't believe this was happening. I couldn't believe this was happening. This wasn't just a coincidence. Coincidences don't exist. There was a reason that Rose had taken Lissa form the Academy, and this is just another clue as to why she did. But it didn't answer any questions; it only raised more. This fox was clearly a symbol of something. Or maybe it was someone trying to coax something out of her? There were many possibilities.

Suddenly Rose looked at Lissa and pulled her off to the side. I wanted so badly to be over there and know what they were talking about. They obviously knew something that they weren't telling me and the other Guardians. It was something huge. I moved closer to them to try and figure out what they were saying, I knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but when it had anything to do with the Dragomir Princess and her safety, I had a right to know. I was the Princess's Guardian. It was my job to protect her.

"Then forget about it." Rose whispered sharply. "It's stupid. Somebody's stupid joke. They'll clean it up. Probably give you a new room if you really want one." That would most likely be true. The Dragomir Princess had a great influence on everybody here; she could probably get anything she wanted if she put her mind to it.

"What if someone saw? What if someone knows?…" Lissa whispered back to Rose. What if someone knows what? Listening to them was only raising more questions. It wasn't helping. Rose tightened her grip on Lissa's arm. She flinched. "No. It's not the same. It has nothing to do with that. Do you hear me? It's going to be okay." Natalie had also gravitated closer to Rose and Lissa. Most likely curious of what was going on between them, as was I. Lissa didn't look like she believed anything Rose said, but she nodded anyway.

"Get this cleaned up," Headmistress Kirova snapped to the Matron. "And found out if anyone saw anything." Kirova looked over in Lissa and Rose's direction and did a double take. She waved me over and told me to get Rose out of here, she was not allowed to be out of her dorm at this time. Rose didn't make it easy to leave, just as I had expected. She begged to be allowed to stay, but in the end, she just didn't have enough authority to stay. The walk over to the novice's dorm was a quiet one. I couldn't stop going over what I head heard from Rose and Lissa's conversation. Finally, when we were almost to the dorm, I got the courage to say something. "You know something. Something about what happened. Is that what you meant when you told Headmistress Kirova that Lissa was in danger?" I asked her. I didn't want to let on that I had listened in on their conversation.

Rose was defiant as always. "I don't know anything. Its just some sick joke." I could tell that she was lying to me. She knew something. Something important.

"Do you have any idea who'd do it? Or why?" I asked, trying to get just a little bit more information out of her. I had a feeling that she was still going to answer without a doubt, with a lie. But she took her time in answering, thinking about it.

"No," she told me. "No clue." I was starting to get a little impatient. Why couldn't she trust me? This was something bigger than her. This was important to Lissa's health. I'm sure Rose knows that. So it just doesn't make any sense of why she's not telling me anything.

"Rose if you know something, tell me. We're on the same side. We both want to protect her. This is serious." I said to her. She spun around, her hair whipping around her face making her look like some exotic Goddess. She was so beautiful. Her face held a pissed-off look and I braced myself for her explosion.

"Yeah, it _is_ serious. It's all serious. And you have me doing laps everyday when I should be learning to fight and defend her! If you want to help her, then teach me something! _Teach me how to fight!_ I already know how to run away." She seethed. And that she did. She had improved her running impressively fast. And she definitely knew how to run away and disappear. I wasn't worried about that. But the expression on her face showed how determined she was to protect Lissa. How badly she wanted to be good enough to be her Guardian when they graduated. She wanted it with everything she had in her. Every fiber of her being shouted to protect Lissa at any cost. She didn't _want_ to know how to fight; she_ needed_ to know how to fight. And she was right. She did need to know how to fight to defend Lissa properly. I beckoned her to keep walking forward.

"Come on. You're late for practice." Was all I could say.

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Heeeyyyyyy(: So what did you think! I wanna know! Don't forget to review! Also, there was some actual paragraphs form the book that RICHELLE MEAD wrote, so I just wanna let you know that some of the writing (like about the fox and stuff) wasn't mine, it came right from the book.

Songs I listened to while writing the Chapter::::

Could It Be You: Hwood

Prom Dress: Millionaires (18+)

Magic: B.O.B.

Love The Way You Lie: Rhianna feat. Eminem

Painted Whore: Millionaires(18+)


	8. Chapter 8

Heyyyyyy(: You guys got lucky and got two updates in one day! Yah! I'm on a roll! I might even have the next one up... depends on how long I take to get all my homework done...

So I know its a little short... but there wasn't much to work with and I have to improvise A LOT so I hope you enjoy this little taste of Dimitri's life away from Rose... :)

Enjoy!

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"Did you hear that Rose won her first hand-to-hand sparring match in class today?" asked Guardian McCander, the novice's sparring teacher. Apparently, Rose was starting her comeback.

"No I didn't. I haven't seen her since our private practice this morning." I tell him. It was now lunch, and we were sitting in the Guardian's lounge. Somehow we were the only Guardians in the room at the moment. It was nice.

"You did a good job with helping her catch up, Belikov. She has so much pent up anger; I think that's mainly what fueled her today. How is Lissa dealing with the… you know… fox issue?" he asked a little hesitantly. Was he afraid of insulting me?

"From what I've heard she's doing okay. She's definitely had better days." I say. I didn't really know what kind of condition Lissa was in. _That's me. Me and my great Guardian skills. Isn't this what got Ivan killed? _I shook my head to clear my thoughts; this wasn't the time to worry about it. She was at the Academy. I wasn't required to be with her 24/7 here. She was completely safe with the wards. _You should still check up on her every now and then, Dimitri. She _is _your charge. You are responsible for her physical and mental well-being. _"That's good. I still cant believe that someone would do that to her. Sweet Vasilisa Dragomir." Guardian McCander got this far away, dreamy look in his eyes. I didn't want to know what was going on in his head. The images trying to break into my head of what could be the cause of that lazy grin on his face were completely beyond disturbing. I quickly excused myself and headed out to the gym. I didn't have another shift until later so I had some free time to do whatever I wanted.

On my way to the gym I overheard some students talking about a study group. It wasn't unusual for students here to form study groups, but when I heard Rose's name being whispered, my ears quickly perked up.

"You think Rose will be able to get away from her dorm tonight?" Jesse Zeklos. I already had a distinct dislike for him, but him suggesting what he was suggesting about Rose was not okay. I was about to go over there and beat the crap out of his pretty little face, when Alberta came up to me with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Hello, Belikov. Do you think that you could cover my rounds tonight; I have a meeting I have to attend that was scheduled during my shift." She said. "Just the nightly patrol rounds for the Dhampir Dorms." It was all I could do to suppress my grin. This was perfect. I could keep an eye on Jesse, and if Rose did manage to sneak out, I would be able to stop her in her tracks. I made sure y Guardian mask was on and replied.

"Of course, Alberta. No problem. I have the shift right before, so I'll just stay until you come back from your meeting." She didn't know how lucky I was feeling about this. She looked at me sympathetically.

"Thank you, Dimitri. I owe you!" She called over her shoulder. I smiled and continued walking to the Gym.

"Wow, Belikov! What are you benching these days?" Comes a voice from behind me. I look over my shoulder and see none other than Ms. Meissner. She was the youngest Moroi teacher on campus, about 25. One year older than me. She had been pretty persistent in pursuing me in the last year. Which was rather annoying, to be completely honest.

"Uhh… I'm benching 225(I don't know if that's a lot or not so… let's just pretend it's a lot!)." I say, feeling a little uncomfortable. What was she even doing in here anyway? Didn't she have a class to teach? And was all that make-up really supposed to be attractive? She shouldn't put so much on… she could take a few beauty pointers from Rose… _what the hell Dimitri? Now that's just messed up._

"Ohhh… that's so impressive." She flushed when I looked at her, was there an annoyed expression on my face again? Those seemed to slip… especially when I'm around Rose. Damn it. Stop thinking about Rose! My fist clenched around the metal bar, my knuckles turning white.

"Yeah… was there something you needed, Ms. Meissner?" I could see her face drop a little when I used her proper name. She pushed her short bangs away from her face. Her mouth turned down in a pout. I mentally rolled my eyes.

"I was just looking for Guardian McCander… I have some papers he asked for… but I guess he's not here… so I'll just be going." She said and quickly turned away to leave. I squeezed y eyes quickly; I didn't mean to hurt her feelings. Shit. I walked over to where I had thrown my shirt and gym bag, and went to take a quick shower in the Gym locker rooms before I left for my rounds.

After my shower in the gym I went to the Guardian lounge to get an apple. I definitely didn't expect to hear what I did.

"… and then he just-EXPLODED into flames! It was the scariest thing I had ever seen. I sent him straight to Kirova's. God only knows what she'll do to him." Ms. Meissner was saying animatedly. She hadn't even realized I had walked into the room yet. Wow, she must really be into whatever she was talking about.

"Do you know why Ozera would ever do anything like that? I mean, not that its surprising… considering his the path his parents chose… but honestly, where did he even learn that kind of offensive magic?" asked one of the other teachers that I didn't know the name of.

"I think he was defending Hathaway and Vasilisa… I'm not sure what happened exactly. All I know is that Christian Ozera set Ralf Sarcozy on fire in my class today. Although, Ralf was getting out of line. He was accusing Rosemarie and Vasilisa of… of being… you know… together." Uh-oh. That didn't sound to good. Why didn't she do anything about it before Christian set Ralf on fire? Was she even paying attention to them?

"Well, why didn't you stop their bickering before it got so out of hand that Christian Ozera felt it was appropriate to set another Moroi on fire?" I said, butting into the conversation. Anything to do with Rosemarie Hathaway and Vasilisa Dragomir caught my interest. Anything. But what I was hearing was completely absurd…. Unless… I had a feeling Tasha had something to do with Christian's knowledge of offensive magic. She was into that kind of thing. I hadn't talked to her in ages, my God- it's been long.

Ms. Meissner's face flooded with color at my question. I didn't think it would have gotten that out of control. You better than anyone should know what Rosemarie is like. She is definitely a handful. She is always starting trouble-" I cut her off. I was pissed.

"It sounds to me that you are blaming Rose for what happened today and why you let it happen. Didn't you say that Christian was _defending_ Rose and Lissa? If that was true, then wouldn't that mean that Ralf started it?" I said; anger laced every syllable that left my mouth. Why was everybody here so against Rose? She had so much promise and so much potential in her! Why couldn't they see that? Why was there always someone willing to place the blame on her? My knuckles were turning white from my hands being clenched into fists so tightly. I think everyone at the table knew how angry I was, nobody said a word. I stood up to leave and was just at the door when I heard one of the teachers whisper "Whoa. What is _his_ problem?"

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I was going to make it longer, but I have things that need to be done for school and for my Momma... so I had to stop here... I think it was a pretty good and productive chapter... Dimitri found out a lot about Rose in this Chapter.

A/N: Okay, so if you hadn't already guessed, Guardian McCander has a little bit of a crush on Lissa... I know... gross. And also, about Ms. Meissner... in the book her real title is Mrs. Meissner, which would mean she's married. But that wouldn't work for me so I had to change it, and I don't know if Mrs. Meissner is actually a Moroi... I'm just guessing and I don't really know if she is young or what... that's how it's going to be in this story. I had to put in some things for Dimitri to do when there is a Chater he's not in in the actual book, so this is what I came up with. If you dont like it, sorry. It's just the way it is.

So, with that out of the way, tell me what you liked what you didn't like ... I would love to know what you guys thought of Dimitri and Ms. Meissner's relationship... Hmm... I don't know what will happen with that... we will have to see later on. Remember, Constructive critisism is always welcome, just don't go bitching me out. That doesn't really help anyone. So with that,

Much love,

~Brittany3


	9. Chapter 9

Why hello, my pretties. :) I have an update for you! YAY! I didn't know if I would get it done today.. I'm going to be late for my Gymnastics practice... but that's okay, my coach knows not to mark me absent until it's been a half hour. So... I really have nothing special to say... so ENJOY!

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After my little outburst of rage in the Guardian lounge I went straight outside. I punched the side of the building. It hurt, it might have hurt a lot, I don't know, but as I raised my fist to hit the wall a second time, a group of Moroi rounded the corner. I quickly put my bloody fist behind my back and slipped on my Guardian mask. The Moroi didn't even look my way. Which was a good thing. Jesse Zeklos was one of them. Which reminded me that I was supposed to be on rounds. My attitude suddenly perked as I remembered what Alberta had asked of me earlier in the day.

Making my way over to the Dhampir dorms, I was quiet in thought. Would Rose say yes to Jesse and go someplace with him? I knew that her personality required her to do something wild and reckless quite often, and Rose had been on pretty good behavior for an impressive amount of time. I was almost certain that she would say yes. For some reason that thought made my nostrils flare and my fist clench. What the hell was wrong with me? I shook my head to rid myself of the horrid thoughts trying to creep into my mind. I lifted my head and noticed that I was standing in front of the Dhampir dorm. I hadn't realized I had walked all this way while I was caught up in my thoughts.

I walked up the front steps and opened the door, walking into a group of Moroi guys. Jesse's friends.

"Guardian Belikov." One of them nodded in my direction as they passed. I noticed Jesse wasn't with them. I walked a little faster. I wanted so badly to find Rose in her bedroom studying, but I knew that was most likely not what I was going to find. I quickly made my way up to what I knew as her dorm and knocked three times. Hard. After waiting a few moments without an answer, I knocked again. Four times. Hard. Nothing. They were probably in one of the deserted lounges on the fourth floor. Guardian numbers dropped, causing almost half of the building to be vacant.

I walked swiftly up two flights of stairs, making sure not to show anything on my face that might be mistaken for something completely different. There were a few lounges on the fourth floor. I headed for the first one, bursting through the door to find it completely empty except for a wooden chair and an old couch with a plastic cover over it. I felt relief instantly. But there was still one more. I walked over to the other door, hearing hushed murmurs. Already knowing what I would find, my blood boiled.

The first thing I noticed was that the lock on the door was broken. For some reason this made it even worse. As I got closer to the door I could just make out what was being said.

"…not a blood whore," Rose snapped. What the… was he accusing her of being a blood whore?

"But you _want_ to. You like it. All you Dhampir girls do." Said a deep voice, belonging to Jesse Zeklos. A few agonizing moments passed before any sound was made.

"Stop it. I told you. I'm not like that. If you want something to do with your mouth, I've got some ideas." Rose said, and all of the possibilities of what she could mean rushed through my head. It had just about heard enough.

"Yeah? Like wha-" I burst into the room, no longer able to control my self. My better judgment went right out to door, violently shoved out by a haze of raging red fury. I saw them spring apart. Rose looked like a deer caught in headlights. The boy just looked like he might wet himself. It made me internally grin. I crossed the room in nearly two seconds, yanking the young fool by his collar, almost completely off the ground. Nothing mattered at that moment, only that he gets as far away from me as possible. Far. Far. Far away. The only thing I knew was this young bastard passed the line.

"What's your name?" I barked, not being able to pick it out of my haze filled brain. Eh. Why go to all that work when I could just ask him?

"J-Jesse, Sir. Jesse Zeklos, Sir." He stuttered, terrified.

"Mr. Zeklos, do you have permission to be in this part of the dorm?" I demanded, knowing fully well that he certainly did _not_ have permission to be up here. Nobody did.

"No, Sir."

"Do you know the rules about male and female interactions around here?" I asked, the hardness in my eyes not fading. I looked just as badass as ever. Which only helped me in this situation.

"Yes, Sir." He whispered. That's when a single thread of my better judgment slipped its way into my head. This was a normal thing for teenagers to do. It wasn't like he was committing a crime or anything. Damn it, Dimitri, why cant you just punch him and send him down to Kirova?

"Then I suggest you get out of here as fast as you can before I turn you over to someone who will punish you accordingly. If I ever see you like this again" I pointed in the general area where Rose was still huddled-"_I_ will be the one to punish you. And it will hurt. A lot. Do you understand?" Jesse swallowed, eyes wide. None of his usual bravado showed. I guess when you are being held in the grip of someone who could easily put you in the hospital without a blink, things were a little different.

"Yes, Sir!"

"Then _go._" I released him and he bolted right out of there. I watched his sorry ass run away with a dangerous glint in my eyes. I wanted to tell him to not forget that I know where he sleeps. But I didn't. It wasn't appropriate.

Then I turned to Rose, my face displaying what I didn't have to say. The anger and disapproving look left my features as I took in the beautiful sight before me. Rose was sitting on the couch in jeans and a bra. And damn, it was like it was the first time I saw her. She definitely had a rockin' body when I had first brought her back to the Academy, but now, after extensive training, she was in better shape. If that was possible. Images started to flash before my eyes of me and Rose as I studied her body. They were completely inappropriate, but I couldn't stop them ones they started coming. And I didn't want to.

"See something you like, Comrade?" she asked with a sort of flirtatious attitude. That's when I came back to reality. That's when I forced all of the wonderful images that had intruded on my mind out of my head and forced something to come out of my mouth, that wasn't drool.

"Get dressed." I felt my Guardian mask slip into place as she put her shirt back on. The only thing going through my mind was what I would look like to have that shirt, that bra on my floor.

"How'd you find me? You following me to make sure I don't run away again?" she asked, now fully clothed.

"Be quiet," I snapped, leaning down so I could look at her at eye-level. I had to come up with a simple lie that would be believable… "A janitor saw you and reported it. Do you have any idea how stupid this was?" I asked her. I honestly wanted to know what she was thinking. Why she said yes to him?

"I know, I know, the whole probation thing, right?" well yes, there was that, but that wasn't what I was talking about. Rose is most likely going to be the center of attention tomorrow. No doubt Jesse will stretch the truth.

"Not just that. I'm talking about he stupidity of getting in _that_ kind of situation in the first place."

"I get in _that_ situation all the time, Comrade. It's not that big of a deal." Anger laced her words and spread over her face. Great.

"Stop calling me that. You don't even know what you're talking about." I said. Why couldn't she just listen to me and trust what I have to say? Why does this beautiful girl have to be so _difficult_?

"Sure I do. I had to do a report on Russia and the R.S.S.R. last year." She said, sounding ignorant. It was the U.S.S.R..

"_U._R.R.S. And it _is_ a big deal for a Moroi to be with a Dhampir girl. They like to brag." I say. God. It was like I had to spell this out for her.

"So?" did she just say what I think she said? Did this girl have any self-respect?

"_So?_ So don't you have any respect? Think about Lissa." I knew if I threaded Lissa into this she would listen. "You make yourself look cheap. You live up to what a lot of people already think of Dhampir girls, and that reflects back on her. And me." I said. It was true. Everything she did reflected on the people in her life. That meant Lissa and me at the moment.

"Oh, I see," she said, realization crossed her face. "Is that what this is about? Am I hurting your big, bad male pride? Are you afraid I'll ruin your reputation?" she whipped at me. And actually, I hadn't even thought of that. I hadn't even known I had such a big reputation. For just a spit second I wondered what Rose thought of my, of my reputation.

"My reputation is already made, Rose. I set my standards and lived up to them long ago. What you so with yours remains to be seen." My eyes narrowed and my face hardened as I said my next words, remembering where I was and why. "Now get back to your room-if you can manage it without throwing yourself at someone else." I knew it was uncalled for and incredibly rude-not to mention mean- but I couldn't help it.

"Is that your subtle way of calling me a slut?" she asked angrily.

"I hear the stories you guys tell. I've heard stories about you." I said, only realizing what I actually said after it was too late. _Where the hell was my filter tonight?_ I just couldn't believe that she did this. I couldn't believe I was making such a big deal about it either. Why did it matter what she did with her body? It wasn't mine. I wasn't her father. I wasn't her older brother either, truthfully, what bothered me was that she hadn't done it, but that she had done it with someone _else._ This realization scared me.

I looked at Rose and saw something brake in her. Rose was blinking back tears. _Great, look at what you did, Belikov! You made the beautiful girl cry. This isn't like you, where is your Gentleman side?_ "Why is it wrong to… I don't know- have fun? I'm seventeen you know. I should be able to enjoy it." She was right, but that's just not how things worked in our world. Sadly.

"You're seventeen, and in less than a year, someone's life will be in your hands." My voice grew gentle as I realized exactly how much teenage Dhampirs missed out on in their younger years. "If you were human, or Moroi, you could have fun. You could do things other girls could do."

"But you're saying I cant."

I looked away, remembering my own charge. Who was dead. "When I was seventeen, I met Ivan Zeklos. We weren't like you and Lissa," I'm not quite sure anyone could be as close as Rose and Lissa were. "but we became friends, and he requested me when I graduated. I was the top student in my school. I paid attention to everything in my classes, but in the end, it wasn't enough. That's how it is in this life. One slip, one distraction…" I sighed, remembering when I received the news of Ivan's death. "And it's too late." Rose took on a strange look, and I could tell she was thinking about what would happen if she slipped up and that happened to Lissa.

"Jesse's a Zeklos." She whispered.

"I know."

"Does it bother you? Does he remind you of Ivan?" she asked, but it really didn't matter. It was not of importance.

"Its doesn't matter how I feel. It doesn't matter how any of us feel." I said, remembering a popular phrase among the Dhampir race: _They come first._

"But it does bother you. You hurt. Every day. Don't you? You miss him." She said. I blinked and looked at her in surprise. How did she know that? I tried so hard to hide it, to mask how much it bothered me. And Rose figured it out. Rose saw right through me. But what scared me was what I just realized. Rose and I are so much a like. Always fighting for control, having it always right out of our reach. I replaced the surprised look with my regular Guardian mask. But she had already seen the surprise. She knew.

"It doesn't matter how I feel." He repeated. "_They_ come first. Protecting them." I say.

"Yeah. They do." She whispered softly, no doubt thinking about Lissa. Maybe Rose was ready to start fighting. I knew she was dedicated enough, and now I knew she was ready. It was a really long time before I spoke, but finally I said, "You told me you want to fight, to _really_ fight. Is that still true." It was a stupid, but necessary question. Of course she still wanted to learn out to fight.

"Yes. Absolutely."

"Rose… I can teach you, but I have to believe you're dedicated. Really dedicated. I cant have you distracted by things like this." I said, gesturing around the room. Then I asked the million-dollar question. The question that meant more to me than it would ever mean to herm more than it ever _could_ mean to her.

"Yes. I promise." She said. Sounding and looking like she really meant it.

"All right. I'll teach you, but I need you strong. I know you hate the running, but it really is necessary. You have no idea what Strigoi are like. The school tried to prepare you, but until you've seen how strong they are and how fast… well, you can't even imagine so I can't stop the running and the conditioning. If you want to learn more about fighting, we need to add more trainings. It'll take up more of your time. You wont have much left for homework or anything else. You'll be tired. A lot." I said, trying to explain to her what I had in store for her.

"It doesn't matter. If you tell me to do it, I'll do it." I studied her. She had a strange glint in her eyes that told me she was completely, one hundred percent determined. Satisfied, I gave her a sharp nod.

"We'll start tomorrow."

* * *

Why, hello again! Soooo, what did you think? Please dont hesitate to leave me a review. Reviews make Brittany happy. And you all know what a happy author does(updates faster!)! So please, tell me what you liked, what you didnt, should I add anything or what? I wanna know YOUR opinions. Just dont go bitching. That does no one any good.

Much love,

~Brittany3


	10. Chapter 10

Hello, my pretties (:

I just wanted to tell everybody to expect an update on Wednesdays, Thursdays, or Fridays. I absolutely can't update on Mondays or Tuesdays... just so ya know. (:

Any ways... I dont really have anything to say...

Enjoy! (:

* * *

Mr. Nagy wasn't exactly one of my favorite teachers to begin with, but when he entered the Guardian lounge with a smirk and a little piece of paper, my dislike grew.

"Hello, Guardian Belikov. Guess what I found in my class this morning?" he asked, tossing the paper at me from across the table. I looked at him questioningly. What was this? I picked it up and slowly unfolded it, not quite sure what I would find…

_So, I saw J last night._

_What happened?_

_What do you think happened? We hooked up in one of the empty lounges._

_How was it?_

_Good. (:_

_So, like, how far did you guys go?_

_Not very. We got caught. ):_

_What happened?_

_Dimitri showed up. He threw Jesse out and then bitched me out._

I knew that handwriting. The sloppy, loopy handwriting of the one and only- Miss Rosemarie Hathaway. I assumed Lissa was the one with more legible handwriting.

"Why are you showing me this?" I ask, completely dumb-founded. Why on earth would he show me this… and why on earth would he _have_ it?

"I caught Rose and Vasilisa passing notes in class today." He stated simply, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I held the note in a clenched hand.

"Why do you have their note?" I asked, would he tell Kirova that I hadn't punished that Jesse Bastard? Eh. I could handle that.

"I caught them in class passing notes. So naturally I read it to the whole class." He said with a smirk. "I thought you were going to help her with her control issue, Belikov? She hasn't changed much since before she left." he said, and walked out.

Screw him. I would have punched him square in the face if I hadn't been staring at the note again.

_How was it?_

_Good. (:_

Those two lines taunted me, replaying over and over in my head.

_Good. (:_

_Good. (:_

_Good. (:_

_Good. (:_

I got almost no sleep for the next week.

* * *

"What's the first problem you'll come into while facing a Strigoi?" I asked Rose during practice. She had kept to her promise, coming in before _and_ after classes. She was now training with me for two hours a day, instead of one.

"They're immortal?"

"Think of something more basic?" I told her.

I could see her thinking for a moment before stating, "they could be bigger that me. And stronger." I nodded at her.

"That makes it difficult but not impossible. You can usually use a person's extra height and weight against them. I turned from her and demonstrated a few quick maneuvers. I made it a point to show her when to move and how to strike someone. I went through it with her a second time and I could see realization spread across her face. She absorbed the techniques quickly and finally it was time to put the lesson to use.

"Go ahead." I said to her. "Try to hit me."

She definitely didn't need to be told twice. She tried to land a blow and I swiftly blocked it, knocking her to the ground. She quickly jumped up, probably hoping to catch me off guard. She didn't.

After several perfect-but failed-attempts, she stood up and held out her hands in a gesture of truce. "Okay, what am I doing wrong?" she asked, exasperated.

"Nothing." Rose didn't look as convinced. "if I wasn't doing anything wrong, I'd have rendered you unconscious by now." She said, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Unlikely. Your moves are all correct, but this is the first time you've really tried. I've done it for years." I stated. She just rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Whatever you say, Grandpa. Can we try it again?" she was so dedicated- it was one of the things I admired about her the most. But sadly, our time together was just about up. She needed to get ready for the Banquet.

"We're out of time. Don't you want to get ready?" I asked, she quickly glanced at the clock and her face perked up, alight with the glow of happiness.

"Hell, yeah, I do." She exclaimed. I walked off ahead of her, and suddenly felt the heat of her gaze on my back. Then, loud and high, came Rose's battle cry. I suppressed the urge to smile. Before she could make contact, I spun around. I one deft motion I grabbed her and pinned her on the ground. She groaned.

"I didn't do anything wrong!"

My eyes looked levelly into her as I held her wrists. Her agitation amused me. She was right; she wasn't doing anything wrong…. Except for that little thing called a battle cry. "The battle cry sort of gave you away. Try not to yell next time." I said, a smile almost escaping my already deteriating Guardian mask.

"Would it really have made a difference if I had been quiet?" she asked. Hmm… would it have made a difference? No. it probably wouldn't have.

"No. Probably not." I said. She sighed loudly, and that's when I realized I was still flat out on top of her. I could feel every bump and curve of her body, which was tightly pressed against mine. I pushed the image of her clad in jeans and a bra as her face looked strangled. It looked like she was _trying_ to appear calm. Huh.

"So, um… you got any more moved to show me?" she said after a while. _There are plenty of things I can show you…_ my lips twitched, for a moment, I let my guard down, for a moment, she almost broke me free. For a moment. With visible effort, I pushed the smile back, not letting her see how happy I was to just be close to her. I shifted off of her, leaned back, and rose to my feet. Come on. We should go." She scrambled up on her own feet and followed me out of the gym, I didn't look back at her as we walked to her dorm, I couldn't. I couldn't look at her now, she probably knew about my silly infatuation with her. She probably thought it was disgusting. I had to be out of my mind. She was _seven_ years younger than me. _Younger._ Seven years was a lot. I had been learning to read and write when she was born.

* * *

They had definitely out-done themselves. The normally boring commons was transformed into a bona fide dining room. Vases spilling over with crimson roses and delicate white lilies. Glowing candles. Tablecloths made of- wait for it –bloodred linen. How cliché. The effect was stunning though. You could barely recognize the place. It looked fit for the queen.

The tables have been arranged in straight lines, creating an aisle down the middle of the room. The students had assigned seating, naturally, Vasilisa was up in the front with other Royal Moroi, Rose was in the back with the other novices. I saw Lissa catch Rose's eye and smile at her, Rose waved to her and took her seat.

They always conducted these formal banquets in the same fashion. A head table sat on t dais at the front of the room, where we would be able to all have a clear view of Queen Tatiana. All of the Guardians lined the walls, stiff and formal. We had broken out or formal black and white suits complete with earpieces for communicating in case of an emergency. My eyes stared straight, looking at nothing, but seeing all.

When the time came for the Royals to come in, all of the seated students stood up respectfully as they walked down the aisle. Once the Royals passed, four solemn Guardians entered with red-and-black-pin-striped jackets entered the commons. Everybody but the Guardians standing with me up against the wall sank to their knees as a sign of respect. Which was kind of silly, but it was Moroi tradition, and we all know how much the Moroi love their traditions.

Queen Tatiana followed her Guardians, wearing a red silk dress that somewhat matched her Guardian's jackets. She was in her early sixties and had dark grey hair that bobbed to her chin and crowned with a Miss America-type tiara. She moved into the room slowly, like she was taking a stroll, four more Guardians at her back.

She moved through the novice section fairly quickly, though she did nod and smile here and there. Dhampirs might just be half-human, illegitimate children of the Moroi, but we trained and dedicated our lives to serving and protecting them. The likelihood that most of these students would die young, protecting their Moroi was strong- and the Queen had to show her respect for that.

When she got to the Moroi section, she paused longer and actually spoke to some of the students. Which quite frankly, was really rude. It was a big deal to be acknowledged, mostly a sign that someone's parents had gotten in good with her. And naturally, the Royals got the most attention.

"Vasilisa Dragomir." Both mine and Rose's heads shot up. Rose, breaking protocol, pushed and wiggled her way to get a better look at what was happening. I happened to have a perfect view of both Rose _and_ Lissa.

"We heard you had returned. We are glad to have the Dragomirs back, even though, only one remains. We deeply regret the loss of your parents and your brother; they were among the finest of the Moroi, their death a true tragedy. The queen stated. I was completely shocked. That was a complement. The queen continued, and just as everybody else in the room, I hung on her every word.

"You have an interesting name," she continued. "Many heroines in Russian fairy tales are names Vasilisa. Vasilisa the Brave, Vasilisa the Beautiful. They are different young women; all have the same name and the same excellent qualities: strength, intelligence, discipline, virtue. All accomplish great things, triumphing over their adversaries.

"Likewise, the Dragomir name commands its own respect. Dragomir kings and queens have ruled wisely and justly in out history. They have used their powers for miraculous ends. They have slain Strigoi, fighting right alongside their Guardians. They are _royal_ for a reason." Tatiana paused for a moment, as if choosing her words carefully. This isn't going to end very well… "Yes," she finally continued. "You are doubly named with power. Your name represents the finest qualities people have to offer and hearken back in time to deeds of greatness and valor." She paused again, and I could feel it coming on. The queen would not just say this to her without having something to rebuke it with. "but, as you demonstrated, names do _not_ make a person. Nor do they have any bearing on how a person turns out." And with that verbal bitch slap, she turned away and continued her procession.

A collective shock filled the room. Nobody could believe that the queen had gone there. I couldn't even believe that she had gone there. But she had. I chanced a glance at Rose and flinched. She looked about ready to jump the queen and rip her to smithereens. The look on Lissa's face was a look of total mortification. I instantly felt bad for her. The queen had no right in saying that in front of everybody, it was completely unjust. Uncalled for. Rude even. But she was the queen; she could go there and not go through hell for it. For the rest of the dinner, I stood there, in the back, completely spaced out, thinking of ways I could successfully, punch the queen in the face.

After the dinner, the school had planned a reception for all of the Royal guests in one of the other common rooms. As everyone was leaving to go to the reception, Alberta came up to me, speaking into her earpiece- one that I hadn't been given.

"…yup. He is right here. Yes. I will tell him right away." she was saying. She looked up to me with a small smile. "Headmistress wants you to make sure Rose goes directly back to her dorm." I gave her a sharp nod before turning away to go find Rose.

I made my way around all of the socializing Moroi, pushing through the immensely thick crowd. Once I made it through the crowd, I pushed open the heavy, solid wood doors and stepped outside, in the crisp, fresh air. Glancing around I noticed there was a forming group surrounding none other than Rose, Lissa, and Mia Rinaldi. Joy.

"..Try and touch me now and find out." Rose said menacingly, which wasn't hard for her because she was already pissed off at the queen for humiliating Lissa just before dinner. She suddenly looked past Mia and looked directly at me. When we made eye contact, I strode quickly forward, shifting my attention when I noticed that the crowd had grown while I had been walking over to them.

I stood in front of her and crossed my arms across my chest. "Everything all right?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at Rose, daring her to tell me the truth.

"Sure thing, Guardian Belikov." She said smiling with a fake kind of sweetness, but I could tell she was a walking fire bomb, furious and ready to explode on any innocent bystander. Rose got a kind of evil glint in her eyes, "We were just swapping family stories. Ever heard Mia's? It's _fascinating_." She said with a sneer.

"Come on," Mia said to her posse. She led them off, but not before she gave Rose one last chilling look that said _this is so not over._ She would be back, and no doubt with something nasty to say about both Rose and the Princess.

"I'm supposed to take you back to your dorm," I tell her drily, as Rose watches Mia walk away. "You weren't about to start a fight, were you?" I asked, knowing the answer.

"Of course not," she said, still staring at the door Mia had just disappeared into. "I don't start fights where people can see them." She said drily. Lissa groaned. "Rose…"

"Let's go. Goodnight Princess." I said to Lissa, forgetting momentarily that she didn't like to be called that. Whoops.

I turned to leave, while Rose didn't even move. she was talking to Lissa.

"You going to be okay, Liss?" she asked, all of the anger drained from her voice as she looked at her best friend. And overwhelming feeling took over me then, I think it might have been pride? Rose may not know when to keep her mouth shut, she may not have the best control in the world, and she may be reckless, but she cares about Lissa more than anything. Lissa just nodded. "I'm fine…"

Both Rose and I knew that that was a lie, and I knew right away what Rose was thinking as she looked at her friend. That they shouldn't have come back. That it was wrong for them to be here. "Liss…" she whispered.

Vasilisa gave her a small, sad smile and nodded in my direction. "I told you I was fine. You've got to go." After a few moments of contemplation Rose reluctantly followed me. I led her out toward the other side of the garden. "We may need to add an extra training on self-control," I noted.

"I have plenty of self-contr-hey!" Rose stopped talking as she saw Christian Ozera slip past us, moving down the path that we had just come from. Ozera? What did he have anything to do with Rose?

"You going to see Lissa?" she demanded, releasing some of her pent up "Mia anger" onto the poor guy. God bless anyone who has been on the receiving side of Rosemarie Hathaway's rage tantrums.

"What if I am?" he stuffed his hands in his pockets and gave her that bad-boy indifference.

I suddenly realized what was about to happen. "Rose, this isn't the time," I said. But Rose being Rose, she completely ignored me and gave me a look that said, _oh, this is the _perfect _time!_

"Why don't you just leave her alone? You are so messed up and desperate for attention that you can't tell when someone doesn't like you?" he scowled at her. "You're some crazy stalker and she knows it. She's told me all about your weird obsession- how you're always hanging out in the attic together, how you set Ralf on fire to impress her. She thinks you're a freak, but she's too nice to say anything." She yelled at him with menace and rage in her voice. Christian paled and something dark churned in his eyes.

"But _you_ aren't too nice?"

"No. Not when I feel sorry for someone." I stood there in complete shock. Did she just say what I think she did? I think my mouth was hanging open. What the _hell_? Why the hell would she say something like that to someone? And straight up to their face? That was just… uncalled for.

"Enough." I said, putting my hands on Rose's shoulder and steering her away from the poor guy.

"Thanks for 'helping,' then." Christian snapped, his voice just _dripping_ with animosity.

"No problem." She called over her shoulder.

* * *

Alright people. What did you think? I wanna know, and to be completely honest, I was a little hesitant to update today because of the lack of reviews... ): I understand that there are about 2,000 people who have read this story and only 20 of you have been nice enough to review... I dont want to come off as ungrateful because my mood just sky-rockets when I get a message saying that I have a review, or a new story alert, or a new author alert, reviews are what make me want to update... so please just take a minute out of your precious time and give me a little feedback. I really do appreciate it.

Thanks, and again, I don't mean to come off as ungrateful, I just gotta know what I'm doing right, and what I'm doing wrong.

Again, thanks.

Much love,

~Brittany3


	11. Chapter 11

Hey, guys! Okay, this was a REALLY long chapter... its like almost 5,000 words... so it took me like.. all day to get this out, but I finally did! So... YAY! Hehe.

Please don't forget to review!

This is, by far, my favorite chapter... you'll see why (:

Enjoy!

* * *

Sleep came reluctantly that night I couldn't get the image of Rose clad in jeans and a bra out of my head. She was so beautiful, so witty. She was in shape, definitely in shape, and it was hard _not_ to appreciate that. it wasn't just her body, it was also her personality; funny, smart, cunning, determined. She was so much like me, always fighting for control. She knew what she wanted and she worked her ass off to get it. She-

The phone rang.

Who would be calling at _this_ hour? I blinked a few times before reaching over to my nightstand and picking up the phone.

"Hello?"

"I'm so sorry for calling so late, Guardian Belikov, but Rosemarie Hathaway is down here in the main hall asking for you. She won't tell me what she wants; she said its 'private Guardian stuff." She murmured quietly- almost inaudible.

"I'll be right down." I said, hanging up the phone and rummaging around my room, trying to find something to put on over my boxers. What the hell does Rose want? What is she even doing up? _Rose wouldn't have risked getting caught if it wasn't important. She has so many ways of getting out of her dorm its ridiculous; she wouldn't have gone through the main hall if she didn't need me._ I told myself as I grabbed my stake and rushed out the door.

I pushed the heavy wooden door that leads to the main hall open, taking one look at Rose, wearing a maroon tank top and baggy black sweatpants, hair a mess in a bun on the top of her head, and no make up, and understood perfectly what was happening.

"Lissa." She nodded and without another word, I turned around and headed back down the stairs, I could hear her following closely behind me. We walked across the quad in silence, towards the imposing Moroi dorm. It was "night" for the vampires, which meant it was daytime for the rest of the world. Mid-afternoon sun shone with a cold, golden light on us. The human genes welcomed it and always regretted how Moroi light sensitivity forced us to live in the darkness most of the time.

I paid little attention to the hall matron in the Moroi dorm as Rose lead us to Lissa. "She's in the bathroom," she stated. When the hall matron and I started to follow her into the bathroom, Rose wouldn't let us. "She's too upset. Let me talk to her first." I considered this, not wanting to upset the princess further. Vasilisa was my charge, but I didn't know what was wrong, so I wasn't really in any place to call the actions.

"Yes. Give them a minute." I said, mostly to the hall matron, Rose had already gone into the restroom.

"Liss?" she whispered as she slowly opened the door, there was a soft sob, and then the door closed. After a few minutes of muffled sobs, I knocked on the door. "Rose?"

"Just a sec," she called back. The hall matron and I exchanged a look, what was going on in there?

"We're coming in," the matron called, pushing the door open. The first thing I saw was the Princess pulling on Rose's sweatshirt. But what caught my attention was the blood covering her face. I rushed over to them, alarmed and ready to fight whatever had done this to her.

"It's not mine," The Princess said quickly, referring to the blood smeared across her face. Which was relieving, but where the _hell _had it come from? "It… it's the rabbit…" she sobbed. The rabbit? Oh well, that wasn't important right now, what was important was getting the Princess checked and cleaned up. I assessed her face and neck to make sure there were no major puncture wounds, and surprisingly, there were none, all of the blood had come from another source… the rabbit.

"What rabbit?" I asked when I was satisfied that she wasn't going to bleed to death. It looked as if Rose was wondering the same thing. Lissa pointed, her and shaking, to a trashcan in the corner of the room. "I cleaned it up. So Natalie wouldn't see."

Rose and I both walked over and peered into the can. Rose pulled away immediately, looking as if she was about to become acquainted with her dinner again. Personally, I didn't see how Vasilisa could tell it was a rabbit. All I could see was blood. Blood and blood-soaked paper towels. Blobs of gore that were completely unidentifiable. The smell was absolutely horrible.

I shifted over to Lissa, bending down so that I was eye-level with her "tell me what happened." I said gently to her, handing her a handful of tissues.

"I came about an hour ago. And it was there. Right there in the middle of the floor. Torn apart. It was like it had just… exploded." She sniffed. "I didn't want Natalie to find it, I didn't want to scare her… so I-I cleaned it up. Then I just couldn't… I couldn't come back…" her shoulders began to shake and she started to cry.

"No one should be able to get into those rooms!" exclaimed the matron. "How is this happening?"

"Do you know who did it?" I asked her, putting my hands on her shoulders, asking her gently.

Lissa just reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. It had so much blood soaked into I, I could barely read it.

_I know what you are. You won't survive being here. I'll make sure of it. Leave now. It's the only way you might live through this._

The matron's shock transformed into something more determined, and she headed for the door "I'm getting Ellen."

"Tell her we'll be at the clinic," I yelled over my shoulder to her before she left. The Headmistress was going to have a cow when she found out what had happened here. When the matron left the bathroom, I turned to Lissa. "You should lie down." I told her, when she didn't move, Rose linked her arm around the Princess's. "Come on, Liss. Let's get you outta here."

Slowly she put one foot in front of the other and let us lead her to the Academy's medical clinic. It was normally staffed by a couple of doctors, but at this time of night, only a nurse stayed on duty. She offered to wake one of the doctors, but I declined. "she just needs to rest," I tell them.

Lissa had no sooner stretched out on a narrow bed than Kirova and a few other Guardians showed up and started questioning her. Rose thrust herself in front of her, blocking her from their view. "Leave her alone! Let her get some sleep first!" she exclaimed, loudly. I saw anger flare in Headmistress Kirova's eyes.

"Miss Hathaway, you're out of line as usual. I don't even know what you are doing here." She declared. I asked her if I could speak with her outside for a moment and she complied.

"Headmistress, I think it would be best if Rose was allowed to stay with the Princess for at least a little while. Vasilisa has been through a lot today, considering what happened at the banquet this evening. She just needs a friend." I tired to reason with her.

"Rosemarie is on strict probation! She isn't supposed to be out of her room after school." She snapped. "We can't have them running away again!" she yelled at me, hushed.

"If you don't want them to run away again then why don't you figure out what it is that made them run away in the first place, and eliminate it. They didn't leave to get out of the punishment for whatever Rose did before she left, Ellen. They left for a reason, and if you haven't read that note that Vasilisa received form an anonymous person tonight, then you should." I said, giving the blood-soaked piece of paper to her. "There is something going on here that is bigger than just Rose and her recklessness. Rosemarie and the Princess might be in real danger." I said, Headmistress Kirova looked at the blood-soaked note and unfolded it slowly, as if scared of what she might find. She read the note over once, complete shock on her face, and then read it again, most likely studying the handwriting, studying the individual letters, trying to figure out who sent it to Lissa. Finally, Kirova lifted her head to look at me.

"This is completely unacceptable." She breathed, reading it again. "This has to be from somebody within the wards. All incoming mail is sent through me. I would have found this if it was sent to her through the school." She stated. "Tell you want, Guardian Belikov. Rosemarie can stay with Miss Dragomir _for a little while_. Then she must go to her dorm. We will have people further investigate this. This is at least the second time this has happened, somebody needs to get to the bottom of this, now." I nodded at her and we walked back into the room.

"You may stay with her for a little while. We'll have janitors do further cleaning and investigation in the bathroom and your room, Miss Dragomir, and then discuss the situation in detail in the morning." Ellen said stiffly to Lissa and Rose, who was sitting next to Lissa.

"Don't wake Natalie," Lissa whispered. "I don't want to scare her. I cleaned up everything in the room anyway."

Kirova looked doubtful. The group retreated but not before the nurse asked Lissa if she wanted anything to eat or drink. At least I knew Lissa would be safe at the clinic. Besides, Lissa had Rose with her tonight. She would be safe.

* * *

The next day went by surprisingly fast. Today was my day off, which I used to sleep. I didn't get many days off; I didn't particularly like being off duty, but it was nice once in a while to just sleep. If I could sleep. I couldn't get _Roza_ out of my head. It scared me that I had taken to calling her that. Her name in Russian, but whenever I called her that it sent a cool shiver down my back. I _liked_ calling her Roza. It was my own little nickname for her.

When I finally succumbed to sleep, I dreamed of Rose. Of Roza. It was after Roza graduated and Rose, Lissa, and I were in Baia. With my family. Yeva, Viktoria, Sonya, my mom, little Paul, and Carolina (Is that her name…? Sorry I couldn't remember…). We were all sitting at the dinner table passing around my mother's home made authentic Russian dishes. We were all smiling, laughing, and talking about anything and everything.

Little Paul was talking to Rose about being a Guardian. Rose was a _badass_ Guardian, just like I knew she would be. She was telling him her favorite Guardian vs. Strigoi story; he looked at her with amazement and longing in his eyes. He wanted to be like her so much, he wanted to be as good and heroic as she was.

Lissa was smiling and talking to a very pregnant Sonya and Viktoria about clothes and jewelry. My mother, watching everything, was smiling. She looked around the table, at the laughing people in her home and sighed happily. She looked over at Rose and I, we were sitting next to each other secretly holding hands under the table.

"Dimka, Rose, tell us how you fell in love." She said. Everybody stopped talking and looked at me and Roza. Rose looked at me with love in her eyes and my heart skipped a beat. It was amazing that he could still do that to me. Still make me feel like I had just met her. Like it was the first time that I had laid my eyes on her, I had just _known_ that she was the only girl for me.

"Roza, would you like to tell the story? Or should I?" I asked her, squeezing her hand lightly, she smiled and squeezed my hand back. "Sure." She turned back to the rest of the family and told them our story. The way she explained it was beautiful, she made it seem completely natural, completely okay that we were Dhampirs and in love.

"The first time I saw him, I thought I would hate him for the rest of my life…" she started, earning a few questionable looks from around the room.

"But, Roza, you love Dimka now, right?" Little Paul asked, looking up at her with big brown pools of melted chocolate. She smiled and poked his nose with her index finger.

"I love Dimitri with all my heart, with everything that I have, Paul." She said and gave him a hug. My smile grew wider than it already was, if that was possible. "As I love you, my _Roza_. I leaned into her and whispered in her ear. I felt her shiver and turn her head to plant a sweet, wet kiss on my cheek. I laughed.

"I hated him because he brought Liss and I back to the Academy." She stated, answering all of the unanswered questions around the room. Lissa was the only one who had a knowing smile on her face. She already knew the story. "When we got to the Academy, Dimitri spoke up for me so that I wouldn't be sent away from Lissa. The Headmistress Kirova made it perfectly clear that I wouldn't be going unpunished and her and Dimitri came up with a system, allowing me to stay. Dimitri had to put in extra hours everyday and he became my mentor." She paused, probably remembering all of our stolen kisses and sweet touches.

"He taught me how to fight, he is why I am such a badass Guardian- when I saw him fight for the first time, I was sure my jaw hit the floor. He was so graceful, so stoic. It was like he had been born to fight Strigoi. It was like watching a deadly dance. I thought of him as a God, I still do actually." She said, looking at me and wiggling her eyebrows. This made me crack up. She was so beautiful. "I remember always worrying about what he thought about me, worried that he would be disappointed with me. I lived for his praise. And when he did compliment me on something, it was like I was on cloud nine. He didn't do it often.

"I also lived for his smiles. He would smile occasionally, but when he _smiled_ it lit up his whole face and just made my heart melt. It wasn't just his mouth that smiled, his eyes smiled too, when he smiled like that he had smile lines that reached out from the corners of his eyes, making him look younger, happier. I remember one time distinctly. It was when he was talking about you guys- his family." She stated, I remembered that too. "He mentioned you Olena, and his face was just alight with happiness, I could tell that he loved you and missed you so much. I remember wanting to be on the receiving end of his unconditional love, like you were. I wanted to make that smile appear on his face. It happened rarely, but I accomplished it now and then…" And she went on to tell our story. I just watched her, memorized by the way her face would light up at some part of the story, or how her face would fall at other times. She was just so beautiful, and I couldn't believe she was all mine.

The sound of a loud beeping drowned out the sound of my _Roza's_ voice. She wasn't done telling our story! I wanted her to finish it before I had to leave, but I could feel myself being pulled away from my mother's home in Baia, I could hear Rose's voice fading and the beeping getting louder. I groaned and flung my arm over my nightstand, searching for my alarm clock; trying desperately to turn off the _damn_ beeping while I was still faintly hanging onto the dream. I didn't want to leave; I didn't want to lose Rose.

Unfortunately, I lost any hold I had on my dream and woke up. I sat up in my bed and rubbed my eyes until I could see clearly. Then, I got out of bed and punched the wall. Repeatedly. There was a dent. Shit. I'm going to have to get that fixed. I sighed and hung my head in my hands, what the heck was happening to me? Why was I dreaming about Rose and my family? Right at this moment, I almost wished I could have my nightmare back, as long as it didn't involve a certain student of mine. Dammit! I punched the wall again. I had to get under control. That's what's wrong with me. I'm not in control. I slowly inhaled, then exhaled and felt a little better. I looked at the clock and sighed it was almost time for the students to be headed back to their rooms. Which meant practice with Rose. I had to come out of my room sometime today. Plus I couldn't be late; I would never hear the end of it.

I arrived ten minutes before Rose did. She came in and headed straight for the change-room. All throughout practice she went through the motions in something only described as a zombie-state. I gave her a puzzled look, but didn't answer any questions.

When practice ended, she left right away- bee-lining to the door, not even saying goodbye like she usually did. Not making any witty comments like she usually did. Something was wrong with her today.

I went back to my room and took a quick shower, pulling my hair into a ponytail at the nape of my neck, and then, grabbing my black duster, I headed over to the Guardian lounge for something to eat. As I made my way over to the lounge, I kept hearing variations of one thing. Rose being the victim.

"Yeah, so you haven't heard? Apparently she let Jesse _and_ Ralph drink from her while they were having sex." Said some freshman Moroi. My fists clenched, so _that_ was what was wrong with Rose today. I knew this was going to happen. I knew Jesse was going to blow it up and brag. Rose may be a lot of things, but she isn't _that_. She may have let Lissa feed from her while they were away, but that was for survival. This was just taking it too far. And Ralph? There wasn't even a Ralph there in the lounge. I was gonna kill that Jesse, I thought I had made myself perfectly clear that if he did anything of that nature with or to Rose again, I would punish him. And it would hurt. A lot. I specifically remember telling him that… something just occurred to me.

Has this been going on all day? Did Rose have to go to class with people whispering about her, maybe even confronting her about it? That must be why she was a wreck. This wasn't something some one can just come back from. It was kinky and disgusting to do it with just one person, but with _two_ people. That was ten times worse. Without exactly thinking about what I was doing, I turned around and walked back to the Dhampir dormitory. I had to make sure she was alright. Somebody doesn't just get over this. Then I got an idea. I went to the Moroi dorm and got Lissa, Rose needed her right now, at a time like this. I led Lissa around the back of the Dhampir dorm and told her I would be right back with Rose. She looked at me with gratitude and said thank you twice.

When I reached her room, I was a little hesitant to knock. What would I say? I didn't know, but before I knew what was happening, my hand was knocking on her door. I heard faint shuffling from inside the room and then the door opened. Rose was in her pajamas, a light blue tank top and her baggy black sweat pants. She sniffed and I turned my attention to her face, her eyes were puffy and red and there were tear stains running down her cheeks. I quickly looked away; I don't think she would have wanted me to see her like this. I don't think she would have wanted anyone to see her like this. Rose Hathaway crying? Unheard of. It didn't happen a lot. Now that I think about it, it probably doesn't happen ever.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

"It doesn't matter if I am, remember?" she looked up at me, looking straight into my eyes. "Is Lissa okay? This'll be hard on her." She said. It astounded me that she was still worried about Lissa at a time like this. I beckoned her to follow me and I led her down a back stairwell, one that usually stayed locked to students. I gestured her to go outside, "Five minutes." I said, she looked around and found Lissa standing there. Without a word, Lissa wrapped her arms around Rose and just held her for a few moments. When they finally broke apart, I could tell Rose was holding back more tears.

"I'm sorry." The Princess said.

"Not your fault. It'll pass." Typical Rose. The Princess gave Rose a doubtful look.

"It _is_ my fault." Lissa said. "She did it to get back at me."

"She?"

"Mia. Jesse and Ralph aren't smart enough to think of something like that on their own. You said it yourself: Jesse was too scared of Dimitri to talk much about what happened. And why wait until now? It happened a while ago. If he's wanted to spread stuff around, he would have done it back then. Mia's doing this as retaliation for you talking about her parents. I don't know how she managed it, but she's the one who got them to say those things." That makes much more sense. I knew I had said I'd hurt him. Whatever Mia did to get Jesse and Ralph to say those things, it must have been worth getting beaten my me.

"Nothing to be done now," Rose said after a moment, sighing.

"Rose-"

"Forget it, Liss. It's done, Okay?" Lissa studied Rose for a few seconds.

"I haven't seen your cry in a long time." She stated, clearly wanting to do something that would help Rose.

"I wasn't crying." She said stupidly. Of course she was crying. Everybody knew she was lying.

"She can't do this to you." Lissa argued. But what could Lissa do? Rose laughed bitterly.

"She already did. She said she'd get back at me, that I wouldn't be able to protect you. She did it. When I go back to classes…" she trailed off, probably remembering how today went.

"You shouldn't have to protect me." She said.

Rose laughed. "That's my job. I'm going to be your Guardian."

"I know, but I mean like this. You shouldn't suffer because of me. You shouldn't always have to look after me. And yet you always do. You got me out of here. You took care of everything when we were on our own. Ever since coming back... you've always been the one who does all the work. Every time I break down- like last night –you're always there. Me, I'm _weak_ I'm not like you." She said.

"Rose shook her head. "That doesn't matter. It's what I do. I don't mind."

"Yeah, but look what happened. I'm the one she really has a grudge against-even though I still don't know why. Whatever. It's going to stop. I'm going to protect _you_ form now on." That was very brave of the Princess. I was impressed. There was a determination in her expression.

"Lissa, you can't protect me."

"I can," she said fiercely. "There's only one thing Mia wants more that to destroy you and me. She wasn't to be accepted. She wants to hang out with the Royals and feel like she one of them. I can take that away from her." She smiled. "I can turn them against her." Was… was the Princess talking about… compulsion? That didn't make any sense for two reasons: 1) because every Moroi had it drilled into them that compulsion is wrong and the Princess shouldn't even be considering it, and 2) compulsion doesn't work on Dhampirs and Moroi… especially Moroi… it was nearly impossible to compel Moroi.

"How?" Rose asked my question for me.

By _telling_ them." Lissa's eyes flashed, and then I knew she was definitely talking about compulsion. But it just didn't make _sense._

"Liss-no. You can't use compulsion. Not around here." Rose said, taking a moment to realize what the Princess meant. _Not around here._ What did that mean? Lissa used compulsion before? _Well, obviously they had to use something to be allowed to live them themselves underage, Dimitri, aren't we a little slow today?_ My thoughts made sense. They would have needed to use compulsion to live by themselves… but can Lissa really compel Moroi and Dhampirs?

"I might as well get some good use out of these stupid powers." She stated. _Powers_? She had more than one impossible power? What else could she do? Bring people back from the dead? Ha.

"Liss, if you get caught-"I decided it was time for me to intervene. It's already been twenty minutes over the five I originally gave them. "You've got to get back inside, Rose, before someone finds you." I told her. They hadn't realized I had heard everything they had just said.

Rose shot a panicked look at Lissa, but she was already retreating. "I'll take care of everything this time, Rose. _Everything._

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Hello, my pretties (: So, please tell me what you liked about the chapter...

Please don't forget to review! (:

I really want to know what you think about the dream Dimitri had... this was, by far my favorite chapter because of his dream... so please, tell me what you thought about it... was it a little confusing... sorry about that if it was... I was trying to make it as un-confusing as I could...

So, as usual, please tell me what you didn't like, or what you liked or what I'm doing wrong or just whatever! Tell me what you think! I love getting reviews from you guys! They soo make my day! (:

Much love,

~Brittany3


	12. Chapter 12

Hello, my Pretties! I am soo sorry I couldn't get the chapter up yesterday. I don't think you want to hear my excuses, so I'll spare you. Let's jsut say that it was a REALLLY hectic few days for me. Yikes. So.. here ya go!

Enjoy!

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The aftermath of Jesse and Ralph's lies was about as horrible as I'd expected. Rose seemed to put up blinders to get through the day- just ignoring everything and everyone. It also looked as though she wasn't getting enough to eat and sleep. I was getting worried. But I just couldn't get it out of my head what the Princess was planning on doing. _Lissa was going to compel Moroi._ That was completely unheard of. I decided I wanted to see this for myself.

I had been assigned to Lissa's American Lit. class, and as I stood against the wall, I noticed something completely shocking. The Princess was using _compulsion_. Right in the classroom. It was actually amazing to watch. Lissa was sitting fairly close to the back, whispering to Camille Conta- I could hear the gist of their conversation.

"It's gross," said Camille firmly, a frown crossing her face. "If you guys were doing it, I'm not surprised she got addicted to it and did it with Jesse." My Guardian mask stayed firmly in place, but as I heard more of their conversation, it was getting harder and harder to keep it there.

"She _didn't_ do it with Jesse," insisted Lissa. "And it's not like we had _sex._ We just didn't have any feeders that's all." Lissa focused her full attention on Camille and smiled, it was sweet and innocent, and I couldn't help but believe her. "It's no big deal. Everybody's overreacting." Camille looked doubtful, and then, the more she stared at Lissa, the more unfocused her eyes became. A blank look fell over her. I blinked my eyes; Lissa could actually compel a Moroi. I wonder how much energy that takes out of her.

"Right?" Lissa asked, voice sounding like silk. "It's not a big deal." The frown returned, and I thought that Lissa had lost her fold on Camille, like she was trying to shake it off, the fact that it had even gotten that far was beyond incredible, but as I listened further, Camille slowly came to realization that yes, maybe it wasn't a big deal. "Yeah," she said slowly. "It's not really that big a deal."

"And Jesse's lying." The Princess's voice was like flowing water falling through my open hands. It felt _good._ Even though I already knew Jesse was lying, I couldn't help but _believe_ that he was. I blinked a few times before coming to realize that the Princess had just compelled me without realizing it. I'm going to have to work on that…

Camille nodded. "Definitely lying."

"What are you guys doing tonight?" Lissa asked sweetly, still holding onto the compulsion. I was trying my _damned_ hardest to not let it affect me.

"Carly and I are going to study for Matthenson's test in her room." She answered.

"Invite me." Said the Princess.

Camille thought about it for a moment. "Hey, you want to study with us?"

"Sure," Lissa said, smiling at her. Camille smiled back.

I could see Lissa drop the compulsion, and suddenly she looked drained. It had taken a lot out of her to compel Camille- and no kidding too. I still couldn't believe it. Camille glanced around momentarily surprised, then shook off the weird feeling she had. "See you after dinner then."

"See you," murmured Lissa. I noticed Christian Ozera walking up to her, he helped her with her ponytail, she spun around quickly, surprised because she didn't know he was there. _What was he doing there? Hadn't Rose scared him off already?_ Lissa jerked away from him.

"Don't do that!" she exclaimed loudly, shivering slightly. He gave her a lazy, slightly crazy smile and brushed some strands of hair from his face. "Are you asking me or _ordering_ me?" he asked. _How did Christian know she used compulsion?_ I thought. _ Well, Dimitri, probably the same way you noticed. He was watching. You know you have a brain in here… why don't you use it._

"…isn't like you. She doesn't pretend to be my friend one day and then ignore me for no reason." I heard him say darkly. Oh boy. Christian had a look of uncertainty on his face, it sounds like he believed what Rose had told him after the banquet. _Lissa had no idea..._ I thought. I could tell this situation was only going to get worse and worse.

The horrible thing was that it was painstakingly obvious that he still cared about her and still wanted her. I could tell his pride had been hurt after Rose had blown up at him, he wasn't about to show weakness now.

"Yeah?" he said in a low, cruel voice. " I thought that that was the way all royals were supposed to act. You certainly seem to be doing a good job with it. Or maybe your just using compulsion on me to make me think you're a two-faced bitch. Maybe you really aren't. I doubt it." Lissa flushed at the word _compulsion_- and cast another worried look around. Then she gave him one last glare before storming off to join a group of royals huddled over an assignment.

The rest of the day went by in a blur.

At the beginning of the next day, I headed over to meet Rose. Naturally, although it was horrible for me to admit it even to myself, our practices were beginning to become my favorite part of the day.

I had her start with running as usual. I ran with her this time. I tried to me gentle and understanding while instructing her now, I didn't want to be the cause of some mental break-down- not that she would have one, but ya know… it could happen to anyone, even Rose Hathaway.

When we finished running, I couldn't help but stare at her while I watched her go through some new offensive maneuvers. I taught her how to use anything for a make-shift weapon. To both of our surprise, she managed to land a few blows here and there- although they seemed to do more damage to her than me. It was quite impressive, Rose was improving rapidly.

I got a feeling that when Rose was fighting with me she wasn't completely here. Like she was imagining me as someone else. Jesse maybe? That Ralph guy…? I don't know, but she fought with a blind rage. I finally called a break; I didn't think this was healthy for her.

We carried the equipment we'd use on the field, and as I glanced at _Roza_ I did a double-take. Her hands were red and cracked and bloody. _Bloody._ I swore in Russian, not caring whether Rose heard me or not. "Your hands. Where are your gloves?

She looked down at her hands, as if just realizing they were swollen and cracked and _bloody._ "I don't have any. Never needed them in Portland." I swore again, why didn't I think of that? I beckoned her to come over to me and sit in a chair. I grabbed a damp paper towels and gently wiped her hand down, removing the blood. "We'll get you some." I told her gruffly. I still couldn't believe that I had over looked this. I didn't overlook anything. Especially when it comes to _Roza._

Rose looked down at her destroyed hands. "This is just the beginning, isn't it?" she asked quietly.

"Of what?"

"Me. Turning into Alberta. Her… and all the other female Guardians. They're all leathery and stuff. Fighting and training and always being outdoors- they aren't pretty anymore." She paused. "This… this life. It destroys them. Their looks, I mean." She stated. I looked up from her hands, not really knowing what to say.

"It won't happen to _you._ You're too…" I caught myself just in time before I said something like _Beautiful. Sexy as hell. Gorgeous._ "It wont happen to you." I said simply. I looked back down at her hands, afraid that if she saw my face she would know.

"It happened to my mom. She used to be beautiful. I guess she still is, sort of. But not the way she used to be." She said bitterly. "Haven't seen her in a while. She could look completely different for all I know." Something told me that she wasn't very fond of her mother.

"You don't like your mother."

"You noticed that, huh?"

"You barely know her." Whoops. Wrong thing to say.

"That's the point. She abandoned me. She left me to be raised by the Academy." When I was done wiping her hands I grabbed a jar of salve and started rubbing it into her hands. I got lost in the feeling of her hands, being able to hold them without raising a question, being this close to her.

"You say that… but what else should she have done? I know you want to be a Guardian. I know how much it means to you. Do you think she feels any differently? Do you think she should have quit raising you when you'd spend most of your life here anyways?" I asked her, still loving the way the warmth from her hands could give me shivers.

Rose looked annoyed. "Are you saying that I'm a hypocrite?" she said sharply.

"I'm just saying maybe you shouldn't be so hard on her. She's a very respected Dhampir woman. She set you on the right path to be the same." I don't think Rose liked to be on the losing side of an argument.

"It wouldn't kill her to visit more," she muttered. "But I guess you're right. a little. It could have been worse, I suppose. I could have been raised with blood whores." She said bleakly. I looked up. A little insulted.

"I was raised in a Dhampir commune. They aren't as bad as you think." I stated. Rose didn't know anything about the Dhampir communes. Only the nightlife was what they say it is. The community in itself is loving, it was one of y favorite placed to be.

"Oh."Rose said, looking like she wanted to take back what she had said. "I didn't mean-"

"It's alright." I said, looking back down at her hands.

"So, did you, like, have family there? Grow up with them?" I nodded.

"My mother and two sisters. I didn't see them much after I went to school, but we still kept in touch. Mostly, the communities are about family. There's a lot of love there, no matter what stories you've heard." I told her, wanting her to understand, needing her to understand that not every Dhampir community is like what they say.

"Yeah, but… isn't it weird? Aren't there a lot of Moroi men visiting to, you know…" she trailed off. It was funny to see Rose hesitant to say something. It was so unlike her. I was still rubbing circles into her hand as I replied.

"Sometimes." This was an unwelcome topic. I couldn't help but relive those moments where I came home to my father beating on my mother. I couldn't watch myself lose my control like that.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up something bad…" she trailed off. But the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to tell her. The more I wanted her to know _me._ It was a scary thought, but on I couldn't help.

"Actually… you probably wouldn't think its bad," I said after a long minute of silence. I could feel a slight smile spread across my lips. "You don't know your father, do you?" I asked her. She shook her head.

"No. All I know he is he must have had wicked cool hair." I glanced up at her hair, long dark, pin straight, let it seemed to frame her face perfectly. I had to agree with her.

"Yes. He must have." I said, returning my eyes to her hands again. "I knew mine," I said carefully. Rose froze.

"Really? Most Moroi guys don't stay- I mean, some do, but you know, usually they just-"

"Well, he liked my mother." I said in a disgusted tone. "And he visited a lot. He's my sisters' father too. But when he came… well, he didn't treat my mother very well. He did some horrible things." I said, anger lacing my voice as I remembered my mother with bruised along her arms and chest. One day I even came home to see my mother attending to a bruised eye, trying to hide it from me before I got home from the Grocery store. I had been so mad; I think I punched a hole through my wall.

"Like…" She hesitated. I knew she was going to ask that. "Blood whore things?"

"Like beat-her-up kinds of things." I replied flatly. I still regretted not getting there in time, causing her to have a long, permanent scar across her side, stretching from just below her right arm pit to just above her left thigh. I finished bandaging her hands, but I didn't want to let go yet I don't think she noticed, but I certainly did.

"Oh God," she said. She tightened her hands in mine; _maybe she did notice I was still holding her hand._ "That's horrible. And she… she just let it happen?" she looked genuinely concerned.

"She did." I felt the corner of my mouth turn up into a sly, sad smile. "But I didn't." I could see the excitement surge through her. I knew she would get a kick out of this.

"Tell me, _tell me_ you beat the crap out of him." She said, leaning into me a little. I don't think she noticed.

I couldn't help it, my smile grew. "I did."

"Wow. You beat up your dad. I mean, that's really horrible… what happened. But, _wow._ You really are a God."

I blinked. "What?" Had she just called me a God?

"Uh, nothing." She said hastily, I was still confused. What had she meant when she said I was a _God_? "How old are you?" she asked quickly, trying to change the subject.

"Thirteen." I said. She called me a God. I inwardly smiled.

"You beat up your dad when you were _thirteen_?" she asked astonished.

"It wasn't that hard. I was stronger than he was, almost as tall. I couldn't let him keep doing that. He had to learn that being Royal and Moroi doesn't mean you can do whatever you want to other people-even blood whores." Rose had a disbelieving look on her face, for what I don't know. She just stared at me for a moment.

"I'm sorry."

"It's alright." It was all in the past, nothing to be done about it now.

Suddenly realization crossed her face. "That's why you got so upset about Jesse, isn't it? He was just another Royal, trying to take advantage of a Dhampir girl." That wasn't the only reason, _Roza._

I adverted my eyes, not wanting her to see the look on my face. "I got upset over that for a lot of reasons. After all, you were breaking the rules, and…" I didn't finish. I had almost slipped up twice today. I needed to get a grip on this! _Get it together, Dimitri!_

She looked down at her feet. "I know you heard what people are saying, that I-"

"I know it's not true." I interrupted her. My answer surprised her.

"Yeah, but how do you-"

"Because I know you," I cut her off again. "I know your character. I know you're going to be a great Guardian." I told her truthfully, at that moment, I think I might have told her just about anything.

"I'm glad someone does. Everyone else thinks I'm totally irresponsible."

"With the way you worry more about Lissa than yourself…" I shook my head. "No. you understand your responsibilities better than Guardians twice your age. You'll do what you have to do to succeed." I said. She seemed to think about it for a few moments.

"I don't know if I can do everything I have to do." She said finally. I raised an eyebrow; I knew she hated it when I did that. It was funny to watch her try to do it.

"I don't want to cut my hair." she explained. I was puzzled. She doesn't have to cut her hair… what was she talking about?

"You don't have to cut your hair. It's not required." I told her. Maybe she thought it was…?

"All the other Guardians do. They show off their tattoos." I released her hands and leaned forward. Slowly I reached out and held a small lock of her hair, twisting it around my finger. She had beautiful hair. It was soft, shiny, felt like silk. She looked beautiful with long hair, she shouldn't cut it. Then, I'd realized what I'd done. I had slipped up. After two almost-slip ups, I slipped up. I let go of her hair, quite surprised with myself. I couldn't believe I had done that. I just couldn't believe it. _What's wrong with you!_ I was screaming in my head.

"Don't cut it," I said gruffly, pulling away from her

"But no one'll see my tattoos if I don't." she said. I got up and walked towards the door, I had to get out of here. I turned around slightly and called over my shoulder, "Wear it up."

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Please don't forget to R&R! Thank you, my Lovies 3 (:

I'm looking for about five reviews at least...? KKs, love you!

Much love,

~Brittany3


	13. Chapter 13

Hey guys, I realize that its been wayyyyyyyy too long, and I'm so sorry. I mean, wow, it's been so hectic lately. I go to this College Prep school and it's a shit load of work. Any wayyyyy... Here's the chapter. I actually have no school today, so I'm thinking I can post a few more chapters today! Yay! haha.

So... I think this is like.. one of the longest chapters so far... Yay! it was almost ten pages in Word... I started it last night, but it was getting really late and I wanted to sleep.. so yeah.

Okay, so part of the reason it took so long was because I was having some difficulty trying to figure out what to start with because there are about like five billion chapters that have no Dimitri and it was very frustrating.

Okay, On with the story...

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It was one of those rare occasions when I wasn't thinking about Rose. About the way her face lights up when she laughs, or the determined look in her eyes as she's beating the crap out of one of the dummies, or even the way her face stays beautiful not matter how angry she gets. The way her hair shines when the sunlight hits it just at the right angle, or just that special way she carries herself when she walks. She was graceful and beautiful and gor- damn it. I was thinking about her again.

Why did it have to be Rose Hathaway… of all the people? Couldn't it have be-

"Dimitri!" I looked up from my half-eaten sandwich, being interrupted from my inner monologue. In the middle of the doorway stood Ms. Meissner, she looked a little out of breath, as if she ran here.

"Yes?" I say, a little bit taken aback by her shout.

"I've been looking for you everywhere! Prince Victor Dashkov sent me to tell you that Vasilisa and Natalie are going to the mall- and since you're the Princess's sanctioned Guardian, you have to accompany her." She said in all about one breath.

"But the closest mall is in Missoula. Is it really that important that they must physically _go_ to the mall..? Cant they just order online or something?" I asked, not really excited to leave. _Is it because Rose won't be there?_

"Oh. I think he is trying to get Headmistress Kirova to let Rosemarie to come along as well the Princess insisted she come. Something about good practice for her… or something like that." She said, walking over to me and sitting down in front of me. She let out a big sigh and ran her fingers through her hair. "I have been running all over campus just to tell you this. Prince Dashkov wants you to know that they are leaving Saturday- tomorrow. I think he said he needs help winning Kirova over. She's kinda being stubborn. She definitely doesn't want Rosemarie to go." She dropped her eyes as I put the rest of my half-eaten sandwich on the napkin in front of me to examine her bright red nails. "I don't know why he is being so persistent with trying to get Kirova to let Rose go, I mean, it's not like she deserves a day at the mall." She looked up at me and smiled, thinking it was funny. But truthfully, it irritated me.

"Rose has been working really hard. I think she deserves a day off." I say, picking my sandwich up and taking a big bite. I resumed reading my book- one that I don't know what the plot is thanks to my awesome _do-not-think-about-Rose_ skills- and hoped she would get the hint. She didn't.

"Sooo…you don't seem very excited about this little trip? Do you not want to go..?" She asked, leaning forward trying to catch my eye. I looked up at her and smiled a sad kind smile.

"Its not that I don't want to go, it's just..." I trailed off, not really wanting to tell her why I didn't want to go. _You would be overly enthusiastic if Rose was going. Why don't you go help Victor- you know Kirova loves you. She'll let her go after a little convincing._

"It's just what?" She asked, fluttering her eyes trying to look sexy- I think.

"… I don't know."

"There's gotta be a reason you don't want to go. Do you not like shopping?" She implored. Damn she was nosey. Didn't she have something better to do? Like flirt with someone who is actually interested?

"I just don't know, okay?" I said a little harsh, putting my book down and moved to get up. "I'm going to go speak with him. Thank you for informing me." I said, feeling a little guilty for snapping at her. She pursed her lips and nodded. Great. She probably thinks I'm a dick now. _Well. You shouldn't have snapped. Where the hell is your control, dude?

* * *

_

"Headmistress, I really think that this can be used as a training exercise for Rose. So she can really get a feel of what its like to Guard Moroi in the real world, in a familiar place." I was in the middle of trying to convince Headmistress Kirova to allow Rose to go, when Prince Victor Dashkov interrupted me. He had been sitting in the corner listening to the ongoing argument intently, as if he was absorbing information that Kirova and I didn't know was there.

"It would make Princess Vasilisa happy if Rose was there with her. I know how safe she feels around Rose and I think it would be better for both of them is Rose was there." He coughed a few times and resumed his speech. "Considering what has happened with the dead animals… I think it would be best, emotionally and mentally, if Rose came along. Vasilisa just needs a friend." He said, sitting back down in his chair after another round of coughing. Honestly, I felt bad for the poor man. He was only about forty and he looked like he could be my grandfather.

"Well, isn't Natalie her friend, Prince Dashkov?" Kirova asked, desperate for something that will hold Rose securely on campus. I knew she felt as though the girls were trying to escape again, and even though it would be a perfect opportunity for them, it would never happen. First of all, I will be there and when Rose is in the same room as me my eyes are glued to her and it would be physically impossible for her to escape(which I know is creepy and dangerous for being out of the wards, but I can't help it), and second, because Rose wouldn't do that. I know Rose, and she was determined to become the best Guardian she could be so she could guard Lissa.

"Yes, they are. But Lissa and Rose are bonded," Victor stated. "And Lissa and Natalie are not."

"Excuse me, Prince Dashkov, but I fail to see what their bond has to do with this issue." Kirova said, lifting her eyebrows as if to say _are you going to give me a good reason?_

"Rosemarie and Vasilisa are very close, and as I said before, they need each other to function properly. Vasilisa needs to have someone there with her that she can absolutely trust. Not to say that Guardian Belikov is not trustworthy, he has been exceedingly trustworthy, but… as the girls would say… they need 'girl time'." Victor explained. It was kind of comical to hear him explain this to Kirova, mostly because he was a grown man but also because Kirova most likely never experienced 'girl time' in her life. I chocked back a laugh and nodded my head at his compliment.

"Rose has been on good behavior lately… let her go and see what happens… I know you think they will try to escape again, but I won't let that happen, you have my word." I say to her, hoping desperately that I won't regret it later. Hoping that I am right- that she won't try to escape.

"Yes... I guess that is true…" Kirova said quietly, I saw just a glimmer of how much this pained her, but finally she said, "Very well. Rose may go…But, I want a report on how she handles being out in a public, un-warded environment again... and I expect you to tell me if they try to make an escape." She gave both Prince Dashkov and I a hard stare before letting out a sigh telling us we could leave.

I walked out of her office feeling like a heavy weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

* * *

"Headmistress thinks you have done well since coming back," I told Rose as we were waiting for the car to arrive to take us to the mall.

"Aside from starting a fight in Mr. Nagy's class?" She asked, and truthfully, Kirova hadn't even mentioned that at our little conference, but I had talked to her about it before.

"She doesn't blame you for that. Not entirely. I convinced her you needed a break… and that you could use this as a training exercise." This is where I internally cringe. I didn't know how she would take the news.

"Training exercise?" Her brows furrowed and the cutest little confused face took over her beautiful features. I gave her a brief explanation as we walked out to meet the others. Victor, sickly as ever, was there with his Guardians, and Natalie practically barreled into him. He smiled and gave her a careful hug, one that ended when a coughing fit took over. I saw Natalie's eyes go wide with fear as she waited for it to pass. It almost seemed like she thought it wouldn't, and that would be the end of her dear father. 'I'm fine, I'm fine.' He said as he got into the car. It seemed like he was going through a lot of pain and discomfort just to go shopping with teenage girls.

The trip was two hours to Missoula. We left right after sunrise in one of the schools large vans. We had nine people in our party: Rose, Lissa, Victor, Natalie, Camille, two of Victor's Guardians, Stan Alto, and myself.

Rose sat in the back with me and another Guardian, Spiradon, so we could help spread the 'Guardian Wisdom' as Rose calls it, as part of the training exercise. Ben, Victor's other Guardian, and Stan sat up front, while the others sat in the middle. I noticed that Lissa and Victor talked to each other a lot, probably catching up on things that her and Rose missed. Camille only sat there, smiling and nodding when spoken to. Natalie, on the other hand, seemed to be struggling to get her father's attention.

Rose turned to me, "She's supposed to have two Guardians. Princesses and Princes always so." She said.

Spiradon, with a thick Southern drawl, answered her. "Don't worry; she'll have plenty when the time comes. Dimitri's already one of them. Odds are, you'll be one too. And that's why you are here today."

"The training part," she guessed.

"Yup. You're going to be Dimitri's partner." He said, and I couldn't help but hear the _other_ meaning of what he just said. A moment of funny silence fell, probably not noticeable to anyone but Rose and I. Our eyes met.

"Guarding partner," I clarified, maybe a little stupidly. I didn't know if she had heard the underlying meaning of his words, but I sure had, and it made me sick to think that Rose and I could never be together like that. Not that I wanted to be. Nope. I didn't want to be Rose's _partner_. She was so young, so fresh. I don't even know what is going on with me, but its go to stop. This is ridiculous.

As if he was oblivious to the tension around him, which he most likely was, he went on to explain how Guardian pairs worked. He was explaining what near and far guards were. I know, could the names be any more bland?

"You'll probably always be near guard," I told her. "You're female and the same age as the Princess. You can stay close to her without attracting any attention." _Of course she is female! You wouldn't be ogling a dude; you know we don't go that way!_ I focused my attention on what Rose was saying.

"And I can't ever take my eyes off her," she noted. "Or you." _That would be too hard for you, now would it be, big 'Ol Budd? You can never rip your eyes away from her._

Spiradon laughed and elbowed me in the side, breaking me from my inner monologue. I had noticed that I am having increasingly more of them…

"You've got a star student there. You give her a stake?

"No." I said quickly, not really sure why. "She's not ready."

"I would be if _someone_ would show me how to use one," she argued. There was a certain spark in her eyes; it made her look even more beautiful.

"More to it than just using the stake," I told her. "You've still got to subdue them. And you've got to bring yourself to kill them." That was always the hardest part. Sometimes, when you killed a Strigoi, it was someone that you knew, that you loved. If Rose was turned Strigoi, I know for a fact that I would not have the balls to kill her. She would still look like Rose. She would have her beautiful long hair; she would still have the same facial features, the same way of carrying herself, the same voice. I couldn't do it. I couldn't stand to, knowing that I was the one who took her life.

"Most Strigoi used to me Moroi who purposely turned. Sometimes they're Moroi or Dhmapirs turned by force. It doesn't matter. Could you kill someone you used to know?" I saw Rose's face fall slightly.

"I guess so. I'd have to, right? If it's them or Lissa…"

"You might still hesitate," I said flatly. "And hesitation could kill you. And her."

"Then how do you make sure you don't hesitate?" She asked. I could see the wheels turning in her head. She was trying to understand and trying to learn how to be better.

"You have to keep telling yourself that they _aren't_ the same person that you knew. They've become something dark and twisted. Something unnatural. You have to let go of attachments and do what's right. If they have any grain of their former selves left, they'll probably be grateful."

"Grateful for me killing them?" Her brows furrowed together, confused.

"If someone turned you into a Strigoi what would you want?" I asked her, already know what she would say. Sometimes its strange how well I know her. Sometimes, better than she knows herself. When she didn't say anything, I kept pushing, trying to get an answer from her.

"What would you want if you knew you were going to be converted into a Strigoi against your own will? If you knew you would loose all sense of your old morals and understanding of what's right and what's wrong? If you knew you'd live the rest of your life –your immortal life- killing innocent people? What would you want?" I noticed that the van had grown silent, but I still wanted her to answer me. Rose looked like she had just had some kind of epiphany.

"If I became Strigoi… I would want someone to kill me."

"So would I," I said quietly, only for her to hear. There was a certain understanding between us. Rose took Guardianship more seriously than some of the Guardians I know who have been guarding for decades. She had dedication, determination, and skills. She understood her duties more than most Promised Guardians.

"It reminds me of Mikhail hunting Sonya," murmured Victor thoughtfully.

"Who are Mikhail and Sonya?" Lissa asked.

Victor looked surprised. "Why I thought you knew Sonya Karp."

"Sonya Kar… oh, you mean Ms. Karp? What about her?" Lissa looked back and forth between Rose and Victor.

"She… became Strigoi," Rose said, looking at the floor." By choice." Lissa face registered complete and utter shock, and hurt when she realized Rose had kept this from her. _Why would Rose keep such a silly little fact from Lissa…?_ "But I don't know who Mikhail is." She said quickly, as if that would make Lissa not angry anymore.

"Mikhail Tanner," Spiradon said.

"Oh. Guardian Tanner. He was here before we left." Rose's beautiful lips turned down into a frown and she ran her hands through her dark hair. "Why is he chasing Ms. Karp?"

"To kill her," I say flatly, remembering a conversation I had overheard in the Guardian's lounge about a year ago. "They were lovers."

"Perhaps it is time we talk about something else," Victor said gentle form the middle seat. "Today isn't the day to dwell on depressing topics."

I think all of us were relieved to arrive at the mall. I could visibly see Rose shift into Guardian mode. She went up to Lissa and stuck by her side as we wandered through the mall. Rose seemed to miss being out like this, just hanging out with Lissa.

Although it was only mid-November, the mall already had glittering holiday decorations up. There was cheesy holiday music playing from the speakers and the mood was just right. I think Rose was a little disappointed though, when she realized she would not be getting a blue tooth for her ear. She came up to me and demanded for one, but I told her that it would be better for her training if she practiced without the convenience of having one- which was true, but really, we just forgot to bring her one.

Victor and Spiradon got to stay with the girls, while Ben and I took the far position. The mall wasn't very crowded, but there were still a lot of people. I could tell Rose was trying to do her job glancing around in perfect intervals, but every store we went into I could tell she was dying to try something on. I felt kind of bad that Rose couldn't do everything that the other girls could. I hope she doesn't feel left out of anything.

That's when I say the display. It was a few feet from where I stood, and it had every color tube there was. Lip-gloss. Rose had been complaining about running out for a few weeks. I looked over the different flavors, picking one out that sounded good. It was light pink with some kind of shimmer-y stuff in it. I picked it up and looked at it, _yes this will do_. I looked around trying to find a way I could buy this without letting anyone know…

"Excuse me," I said to a girl with short blond hair who looked about nineteen. "Would you go to the cash register to pay for this for me?" I asked her, she seemed to be a little flustered as she nodded her head. _Well that was easier than I thought._ I quickly gave her a five and watched her pay for the lip-gloss and bring me back a small brown paper bag. "Thank you, and you can keep the change." I told her as she nods and walks away.

Just then, Rose looks over and meets my eyes, something we have bee doing over the course of this trip as a safety precaution. She turns back to Lissa and shook her head, saying something I couldn't hear. a few moments later Lissa picked out a black dress with a huge-ass smile on her face. She shoved it at Rose and Rose looked longingly at it. We all knew she wanted it, Lissa knew, I knew, even Rose knew- I didn't know what was holding her back. The dress would look stunning on her. It looked like one of those dresses that would cling in all the right places, showing off her curves. And Rose had _curves._ It was one o those dresses that would definitely challenge the school's dress code. Lissa looked as though she had just won the lottery, and I heard her faintly say "Then we'll just get it without you trying it on."

As the afternoon continued, I found that Rose was growing exceedingly tired. She seemed to be happy when we hit our last store- the jewelry store.

"Here you go," Lissa said to Rose. "That necklace was made to go with your dress." I couldn't see the necklace she was pointing at, but if it matched the dress Rose had bought, it was bound to be gorgeous.

"I hate Rose stuff," Rose stated flatly.

Lissa asked to see the necklace, but when she saw the price, her face fell. _Must have been pretty damn expensive. She's been spending money like she's picking it out of her ass today. I guess even the Dragomir Princess has limits_.

"Oh look at that. Even you have limits." Rose teased. I couldn't help but smile. "Your crazy spending is stopped at last." We were all waiting for Victor and Natalie to finish up; apparently he was buying her something. That was good; she had been trying to get his attention all day.

The ride back was quiet. Everyone was tired because our sleeping schedules were all messed up. Rose was sitting next to me again. She leaned against the back of the seat and yawned. I couldn't help but notice that our arms were touching, she probably didn't notice, but I did. _That's because you notice everything about this girl._ It was true. I did notice everything about Rose. The feeling of closeness and connection burned between us.

"So, I cant every try on clothes again?" She asks quietly, not wanting to wake the others. Victor and the Guardians were awake, but the girls had fallen asleep.

"When you aren't on duty, you can. You can do it during your time off."

"I don't ever want time off. I want to always take can of Lissa." She yawned again. "Did you see that dress?" She whispered. Imaged Rose wearing the dress popped up in my mind, she looked good. She looked damn good.

"I saw the dress."

"Did you like it?" She whispered softer this time. I didn't answer. "Am I going to endanger my reputation if I wear it to the dance?"

I spoke so softly that I didn't even think she heard, "You'll endanger the school." Rose smiled and fell asleep.

Rose was the cutest sleeper I had ever seen. All of the worry lines were erased from between her eyes, the tightness around her eyes lessened and she looked so peaceful. Just then her head bobbed and fell into my shoulder. I stiffened slightly. I didn't know what to do. Although part of me wanted to move her head from my shoulder, the other part, the part that was much larger by comparison, was about to jump up and down with glee.

Rose had been asleep for a little over an hour when she started shivering. _Was she cold?_ I took off my coat- or according to Rose my "Cowboy-wannabe coat" and laid it across her, effectively ending her shivers.

We had just pulled into the Academy's gates when Rose woke up. She was groggy for a few moments before pulling my duster off of her and climbing out behind me. Rose was now wide-awake.

"Back to prison," Rose sighed. She was walking beside Lissa towards the commons. "Maybe if you fake a heart attack, I can make a break for it." She joked. Lissa made a horrified face. "Without your clothes?" She handed Rose her bags and she swung them around happily. "I can't wait to see the dress."

"Me neither," she said. I couldn't wait either. She was going to look gorgeous. "Kirova is still deciding if I've been good enough."

"Show her those shirts you bought. She'll go into a coma. I know I'm about to." Lissa said with a disgusted look on her face. Rose just laughed and hopped on one of the wooded benches, keeping pace with Lissa as she walked along the length of the bench. "They aren't _that_ boring."

"I don't know what to think about this new, responsible Rose." Lissa said with a laugh.

Rose then hopped up to another bench. "I'm not that responsible."

"Hey," Spiradon called to them. "You're still on duty. No fun allowed up there." He said jokingly.

Rose smiled and yelled back. "No fun here." She was poised to jump, when the wood gave way. "I swear-Shit."

Rose ankle fell threw the wooden bench, her body still trying to go forward. There was a loud cracking sound and then Rose was unconscious.

* * *

Sooo.. I have a few questions:

1. Did you like it?

2. Will you review?

3. Who has heard of the Broadway show "Wicked"? I went to see it on Oct. 17 and I loved it. If you've seen it, tell me if you liked it or not.

4. I'm writing a story that' all mine, like one hundred percent original. Would you guys like to read some snipits?

Okay... So that's it! Please review and tell me what you liked! I really enjoy reading what you guys have to say!

Much love,

~Brittany3


	14. Chapter 14

Hello my fellow Fic readers! I'm so sorry about not being able to get this chapter up... I wanted to get it up on Friday.. .but my dad came to pick me up earlier than expected...

I'd like to say thanks to everyone who reviewed! It really means a lot to me that you guys take the time to send me a little feedback! I hope more people get into the habit of doing so! (:

Soooo... Here's Chapter 14..

* * *

"_Rose!"_

My heart was pounding. Rose hit the ground with her ankle still caught in the wooden bench. From here I could tell it was bent at an unnatural angle. Pain was apparent on Rose's face and all I wanted to do was make that look go away. I rushed over to her, being the first one to get to her and ripped the rotted wood away. _Rotted wood? It looked fine!_ As I pulled Rose's ankle out of the bench, I noticed it resembled an awkward 'W'. Lissa had a horrified look on her face as she fluttered over Rose. Victor and Natalie were next to arrive at the scene of her injury and they both had shocked looks on their faces.

"No No. No! I cant… no practice… with Dimitri… my ankle… I'm dying." Rose mumbled as I picked her up and started for the infirmary. I wanted to get there as soon as possible, but I was afraid if I ran I would jostle her ankle, and I couldn't bear to put her in any more pain than she already was. "Cant practice… with broken… ankle… out… too long… without…ugh." That's when Rose started moaning. It killed me to see Rose in this much pain, but to have to hear it as well… it was utterly heart breaking.

I burst into the Infirmary, startling Dr. Olendski. I set Rose in one of the beds gently placing her ankle on the bed. Rose was moaning about pain and how she wouldn't be able to do practices and she was _not_ being quiet about it. Her hands grabbed at my shirt, bunching it into her tiny fists, making it impossible for me to move away from her. Rose let out a loud, disturbing moan of pure pain before whimpering and muttering about all the practices she will have to miss because of this "stupid-ass injury". Even half-unconscious Rose was still Rose.

"What on earth happened here!" Dr. Olendski asked with wide eyes as she came rushing over to stand beside the bed Rose was occupying. The doctor's hands fluttered over her, afraid to touch her for she didn't know where her injury was. With the amount of noise Rose was making, I didn't blame her. I would be scared to touch her as well.

"Rose fell and hurt her ankle very badly. She is mostly unconscious from either the fall she took or the pain from the fall." I told her, looking down at Rose. She was still moaning and her eyes were squeezed tightly closed, as if the tighter she held her eyes closed, more of the pain would go away. She still had my shirt fisted in her hands.

"Unggh… my stupid…ankle… hurts… like… hell. No… practices… for a… uughhh… long time…"

"What was she doing to mess up her ankle so horribly?" She asked, examining Rose's ankle. I looked down at her and gently unwrapped her hands from my shirt so I could stand up straight. Rose was staring to curl into herself, assuming the fetal position.

Then, Lissa ran into the room and made a beeline for Rose. The moment Lissa sat down next her Rose calmed down and the muscles around her eyes relaxed. Lissa had both hands on Rose and her eyes were closed. There was a certain glow about them both that I had never noticed before. _Was it the bond? When they are close, they both glow? Why had I never noticed that?_ Then Lissa removed her hands kissed Rose's cheek. I noticed that Rose no longer had that radiant glow, but Lissa did.

I shook my head, looking away from the girls and turned my attention to Dr Olendski. "She was walking on the wooden benches right outside the commons and one of them was rotted and she fell through." I said flatly, remembering the exact moment that Rose had fallen. I think my heart stopped beating in that moment. She had scared me so much with just that little fall… what would I have done if… if… something worse had happened? My strange attachment to Rose was becoming a problem. _I don't consider it a problem. Why would you?_ Well you are out of your mind. _We are the same person, buddy. If I'm out of my mind what does that make __**you?**_ I think I'm going crazy.

The door opened and Victor Dashkov walked in. He had a small box in his hand with a short note scrawled on a piece of paper.

"This is for Rosemarie. I got it for her and was going to give it to her for doing such an excellent job today… could you please give this to her when she wakes up, Guardian Belikov?" He asked with a smirk. I nod and take the small box from his hand. He glances at Rose for a moment with a strange look that I can't decipher and then walked out. I am sitting in the chair playing with the small –jewelry?- box when Dr. Olendski comes back into the room.

"Well… her X-ray doesn't show any broken bones… I guess I'll just give her something for the pain, hm?" She asked, pulling the hem of Rose's pant leg up to show me that, indeed, her ankle did not resemble an awkward 'W' anymore. _What the fuck?_ All I could do was nod. She was okay? Maybe I had imagined the whole ankle thing. I weighed the box between my hands trying to figure this thing out. There is no reasonable explanation for this. _But you heard Rose. She was moaning so loud you could probably hear her on the other side of campus. You did _not_ make that up. I promise you. Nobody could have that sick a mind._

"So how long will the meds knock her out for…?" I asked. Right now I just wanted to see her eyes, I just wanted to see her awake because seeing her like this was just torture. I needed to know she was okay. I needed to know. Proof.

"A few hours." She said. She looked at me for a moment and said, "You may stay if you like?" I nodded and sat down in the chair that Lissa had been occupying and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Just watching her, unmoving, was not working out for me. I tried to imagine her smile, her laugh, or her voice when she talks about something she's passionate about- all the things I love about her. It distracted me for a few minutes, but then I would remember the awful moans of pain she had been making only a few hours ago. Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, Rose's eyes started to flutter and slowly they opened.

"Rose." Relief flooded through me. I had been waiting hours just to see her open her eyes. Rose turned her head slowly in the direction of my voice. I leaned toward her, not being able to stop myself, and looked straight into her beautiful dark chocolate eyes.

She was going to be okay.

"Hey," She said, her voice sounded groggy. It kind of resembled a frog, but a cute frog.

"How do you feel?" I ask her, I needed to know if she was still in pain.

"Weird. Kind of groggy." Her voice was quiet as she answered me.

"Dr. Olendski gave you something for the pain- you seemed pretty bad when we brought you in." I told her. Her eyebrows knit together.

"I don't remember that… how long have I been out?"

"A few hours."

"Must have been strong- must still be strong." Rose was quiet for a moment before she wiggled her toes. "I don't hurt at all." She said with a shocked expression. I let out a breath that I didn't know I had been holding in. I ran a hand through my hair and felt like laughing. I didn't.

"No. Because you weren't seriously injured." I was still baffled by that little phenomenon.

Rose shuddered as if remembering something then asked, "Are you sure? I remember…. The way it bent. No. Something must be broken." She stated, trying to sit up so she could get a look at her ankle. "Or at least sprained."

I moved forward to stop her. She shouldn't be moving around this much just after waking up. It can't be good for her.

"Be careful. Your ankle might be fine, but you're still a little out of it." Rose carefully shifted to the edge of the bed. She looked down at her ankle for a few moments before looking back up to me.

"God, I got lucky. If I'd been hurt, it would have put me out of practice for a while." I smiled, remembering how many times she told me that when I was carrying her, and sat back down in the chair.

"I know. You kept telling me that while I was carrying you. You were very upset." Rose seemed flustered and a little bit sad. _Why was she sad?_

"You… you carried me?" _was that bad? I quite enjoyed it, although I would have enjoyed it more if it were under other circumstances._

"After we broke the bench apart and freed your foot." Rose seemed to contemplate that and a dreamy look crossed her face. Then she seemed to realize something and groaned.

"I was taken down by a bench!" She threw her hands up in the air in frustration and ran her hands down her face.

"What?" I asked, dumbfounded. This girl never ceased to surprise me.

"I survived the whole day guarding Lissa, and you guys said I did a great job. Then I get back here and meet my downfall in the form of a bench." She groaned again. "Do you know how embarrassing it is? And all those guys saw, too."

"It wasn't your fault," I said, kind of ticked that she was embarrassed about _other guys_ seeing what happened. "No one knew the bench was rotted. It looked fine." I still couldn't believe that I hadn't noticed the bench was rotted.

"Still. I should have just stuck with the sidewalk like a normal person. The other novices are going to give me shit when I get back." I felt bad that she was going to have to put up with the other novices, because I know how awful they can be sometimes, but I think I have something that would make her feel better.

"Maybe presents will cheer you up?" Her face brightened instantly and she sat up a little bit straighter. I couldn't help it, I let a genuine smile spread over my face, just glad to see her so happy. It was refreshing to see an actual smile on her face after worrying over her constantly for the past three and a half hours.

"This is from Prince Victor." I tell her. I give her the little box and the note. She reads the note and looks at the box again.

"That's nice of him," She said, opening the box. Her eyes widened at what was inside. "Whoa. Very nice." It was a rose necklace. Rose held it up, looping its chain over her hand so the glittering, diamond-covered rose hung free. Whoa was right.

"This is pretty extreme for a get-well present," Rose noted.

"He actually bought it in honor of you doing so well on your first day as an official Guardian. He saw you and Lissa looking at it." I told her, remembering the look on Lissa's face when she saw the price. It must have been extremely expensive. I was a little shocked that he had bought that for her.

All Rose could say was "Wow." She paused for a moment. "I don't think I did _that_ good of a job."

"I do." Rose had a huge shit-eating grin as she placed the necklace back into the small box and set it on the table.

"You did say 'presents,' right? As in, more than one?" I laughed out loud at her eagerness. "This is from me." I handed her the small brown bag with the lip-gloss in it. I felt kind of unworthy after she got that extravagant necklace from Prince Victor. I didn't look at her while she opened it, until she started to speak.

"How'd you manage to buy this? I saw you the whole time at the mall." She said, looking up at me with questions in her eyes. _So she was watching you…?_ I smiled inwardly.

"Guardian secrets." I said with a small smile, not really wanting to tell her that I had paid some college kid to buy it for me.

"What's this for? For my first day?"

"No," I said simply. "Because I thought it would make you happy." The next thing I knew, Rose had her small arms wrapped around my neck in a tight embrace. It was heavenly. "Thank you." She whispered. My body was stiff and tense because I hadn't been expecting her to hug me, but after the momentary shock wore off I wrapped my arm around her small waist and let my hand rest on the small of her back. It felt so right to hold her in my arms. So right, it scared me.

"I'm glad your better," I whispered into her ear softly. "When I saw you fall…" I trailed off not wanting her to know how much her little fall affected me.

"You thought 'Wow, she's a loser'."

"That's not what I thought." I pulled back slightly so I could see her better, but I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. Her eyes were so warm and inviting, I could stare into them for the rest of eternity. Slowly, and without my permission, my hand reached out and traced the edge of her perfect cheekbone, moving up the side of her face. Her skin felt smooth under my fingers, and I never wanted to remove my hand. My finger wound around a lock of hair that had fallen down in front of her face, just like I had in the gym, but this time, I wanted to do it, and I liked to touch her hair. It was so smooth, so soft. Rose was staring at my lips, I could tell, she swallowed noisily and looked back into my eyes.

A soft knock echoed throughout the room and Rose hastily leaned away from me. Dr. Olendski slowly opened the door and stuck her head in. "I thought I heard you talking. How do you feel?" She walked over and made Rose lie back down. She touched and bent her ankle, assessing it for damage. When she was finally done she shook her head. "You're lucky. With all the noise you made coming in here, I thought your foot had been amputated. Must have just been shock." She stepped back. "I'd feel better if you sat out from your normal trainings tomorrow, but otherwise, you're good to go." Rose let out a loud sigh of relief. Dr. Olendski gave Rose the okay to go and then left the room. I walked over to the other chair to get her coat and shoes. I watched her slip one of her shoes on.

"You have a guardian angle." I stated.

"I don't believe in angles," She told me. And I was completely dumbfounded. How could she not believe in guardian angles? I mean, with everything that happened to her… the accident, the fall... "I believe in what I can do for myself."

"Well then, you have an amazing body." My eyes widened a little bit as I realized what I had just said. _What the fuck? Where the hell is my filter!_ I couldn't believe that had just come out of my mouth. Rose looked up at me with a questioning look. "For healing I mean. I heard about the accident…" I knew Rose normally avoided this topic, and I hadn't meant to bring it up… I hadn't planned on telling her she had an amazing body either…

"Everyone said I shouldn't have survived," She explained. "Because of where I sat and the way the car hit the tree. Lissa was really the only one in a secure spot. She and I walked away with only a few scratches."

"And you don't believe in angles or miracles."

"Nope. I-" She stopped short as if something just occurred to her. I saw a multitude of different emotions cross her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Where's Lissa? Was she here?"

"I don't know where she is. She wouldn't leave your side while I brought you in. She stayed right next to the bed, right up until the doctor cam in. You calmed down when she sat next to you." Something seemed to don on her at that moment and I felt like I was missing something vitally important.

Rose closed her eyes. She was starting to look a little bit green. She seemed to be somewhere very different than here at the clinic. After a few minutes I called her name. I called her name again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

I was starting to worry again. What the hell? Was this a side effect from the medication that the Dr. gave Rose? Was she going into shock? Oh holy fuck, was this my fault for bringing up the accident..? Shit, if I had known Rose was going to freak out about it I wouldn't have said anything. Damn.

I gently placed my hands on her shoulders and shook her a little. Nothing. "Rose?" I whispered. I had just gotten her back. "Rose?" I said a little bit louder because I had no idea what I was supposed to do. _Lissa? She could be in Lissa's head again? It's just like that time when we were running laps. She'll come around ._I couldn't stand not having her one hundred percent here. "Rose!" I shook her a little bit more firmly. That's when Dr. Olendski came in. She probably heard my yelling her name.

Suddenly, Rose's eyes opened and she was staring at me. She had a peculiar look in her eyes; it was trust and understanding. She quickly glanced at Dr. Olendski then looked back at me.

Rose's voice cracked as she spoke. "I know where she is. Lissa. We have to help her."

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Sooo... don't be shy! I love getting reviews! Tell me what you thought about it! The next chapter should be up tonight or tomorrow evening... I have no practice tomorrow so we'll see what I can do! (:

Until next time,

~Brittany3


	15. Chapter 15

Hello(: Sorry I couldn't get this out faster, it took me forever to write this... I don't even know why. Soooo... I really have nothing much to say.

Sorry about the shortness of this chapter... I didn't realize it was so short until I got it on the Doc. Manager.. haha.

Just a quick thanks to everyone who reviewed! Thank you, i really do appreciate it! I love hearing from you guys!

So on with the story...

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I left immediately. She was my charge, so no matter how much I wanted to stay with Rose in the clinic, I had to find the Princess. Rose had said she was in danger and told me she was in the attic of the church. _Why the hell would she want to spend her time up there…?_ I shook my head not really caring why she was where she was; my only mission right now was to get her out of harm's way. _There is plenty of time to ponder the inner workings of the female brain once Vasilisa was one hundred percent safe._

When I reached the church I swung the doors open and ran up the side stairs, startling the priest. _Whoops._

The journey up the stairs was a surprisingly long one. _Why the hell are there so many freaking stairs?_ I shook my head as I came to the end of the stairs and a closed door. Without hesitating, I flung the door open and looked around the room. There were a few boxes here and there along with the standard fold up table and a broken chair in the corner that was covered in dust. But my eyes quickly swept over all of that and landed on a heap of teenage girl. It looked like she was drowning in blood. Her arms were draped haphazardly above her head, and at first I thought it was her head that was bleeding, until I got closer and looked at her wrists. I noticed a small razor blade lying on the bench by the window and quickly made the connection. When Rose had said she was in danger, I immediately thought that she meant in danger from someone_ else._ It never occurred to me that _she_ was the danger.

I swiftly walked to her and gently picked her up, needing to get her to the Infirmary as soon as possible. She had lost a lot of blood. Her breathing was slow and her heart rate was below average.

The second I walked through the Infirmary doors, all Hell broke loose. Headmistress Kirova and Alberta were in there along with two of the nighttime nurses. Their eyes were wide as I set the bloodied heap of Princess Vasilisa on the bed Rose had been occupying only half an hour ago. One of the nurses immediately called in Dr. Olendski and she came rushing in with her hair up in a messy ponytail and large thick glasses. It looked like she had just been getting ready for bed when we called. _Well, it _is_ late._

Rose had told us about Lissa's cutting. It seemed that the Princess had done it before the way Rose had explained it. I couldn't wrap my head around a depressed Princess when I saw her four hours ago practically glowing as she sat next to Rose. _Could she be bi-polar? _It would explain her drastic mood changes, although throughout the whole time I had known Lissa- no matter how short that time may be –I had never known her to be depressed. She always seemed to be in a good mood. She always seemed to be happy. _I guess not.

* * *

_

I awoke with a start from the same dream that I always have. A dream that sears extreme fear and passion into my heart and soul. A dream that I absolutely _love_ having, no matter how wrong it is, no matter how inappropriate it is. It was like a drug. I actually looked _forward_ to sleeping because in my dreams, everything is perfect.

So, naturally, the dream is of Rose. Of her beautiful smile, her tinkling laugh, or her passion and determination to be the best Guardian she could be.

God, Rose had me saying 'tinkling'. 'TINKLING'! I've never said that word in my life.

I was slowly beginning to realize I was loosing my mind, and if I thought about why I was losing my mind too long, my brain would turn to mush and I would have no self-restraint when it comes to _not_ thinking about Rose. I sighed heavily, not really wanting to move from my warm, comfy bed. I still had five minutes before I _had_ to get up…

The loud screech of my alarm clock drummed against my eardrums as I hastily flung my arm onto my nightstand, searching for the damn snooze button. I groaned, seriously? It's been five minutes already? I knew it was time to get up, and I grudgingly pulled the covers away from my body and sat up, trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes.

Twenty-five minutes later I was showered, dressed and heading out the door. I made my way across campus towards the Guardians' Lounge when I heard the first whisper.

"I heard she went to get an abortion."

"No, no. I heard she tried to leave again, and Rose almost killed her trying to stop her!"

"Nuh-uh, Jenny told me she caught Prince Victor's disease while they were out yesterday."

And as the day went on, the rumors grew worse and worse. But, there was one that was even a surprise to me.

"Yeah, they are both in my Slavic Arts class and they didn't talk to each other the whole hour! Looks like Lissa finally dumped that blood whore." I overheard a short Moroi girl who looked to be a freshman. She was talking animatedly to a taller brunette Moroi who looked about the same age as her. I stopped in my tracks and turned my head so that I was looking at them; they were so deep in conversation they didn't even notice me.

"Oh I know. I mean, I don't even understand why she hung out with that tramp in the first place. They are complete opposites." Said the brunette, curling her lip up in disgust.

"I know. Do you remember when Rose pushed that girl into a tree and broke her arm? I mean, Lissa would _never_ do that." I left before I started yelling and screaming. If that was what was being said throughout the school, I couldn't imagine what Rose and Lissa were going through right now. My fists curled as I thought of sweet Rose being called a blood whore and a tramp. I needed to hit something… or someone. Ugh. A picture of Stan Alto popped into my head and I imagined myself breaking his nose with my fist. But this only made me even angrier, remembering what he did to Rose that first day she came back. _What does mama always say, 'Blow your soup, dear. It'll help. Just blow your soup.'_ I remembered my first reaction when she would say that. Blow your soup? What the frig does that mean! Don't tell me to fucking 'blow my soup'.

* * *

Before I knew it, the week was over and the weekend had begun. Everybody was in a hurry, trying to get everything set up for the dance tonight. I wasn't sure if Rose was going now that her and Lissa weren't talking, and I was a little sad that I wouldn't get to see her in that black dress she bought at the mall. Sadly, I had been looking forward to it, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't deny it.

It was twenty minutes after the dance started and almost everyone was already in the commons. Alberta and I were on out way there, stuck with chaperone duty, when we walked into them. Rose and some novice names Mason, I think, were stumbling along the ice-covered pathway giggling and laughing. It made my chest hurt to look at them, knowing that that would never be _me_ holding Rose up like that.

"Mr. Ashford, Miss Hathaway. I'm surprised you aren't already in the commons." Called Alberta, she was smiling at them like she thought they were cute. I mean, Rose was cute, but that Mason kid definitely wasn't…

"Got delayed, Guardian Petrov. You know how it is with girls. Always got to look perfect. You especially must know all about that." He said, giving her an angelic, teacher's pet smile. That's when I noticed Rose was wearing _the dress._ I couldn't take my eyes off her. It was a wonder that Alberta didn't call her on the dress code right then and there because that dress left just about nothing to the imagination. The soft clingy fabric hugged her curves in the most delicious way. I noticed that Rose was wearing Victor's necklace; she was right, it did match the dress.

All in all, Rose looked absolutely breathtaking. Rose was always breathtaking, but this was just over the top stunning. She looked perfect. I momentarily ogled her, hoping to dear God that my face wasn't showing all of these crazy emotions I was feeling. She had left her hair down, just the way I liked it. It was like she was _trying_ to tease me.

Rose suddenly let got of Ashfart's hand and looked down at the ground. Mason and Alberta finished up and we all went our separate ways.

"Well, Rose looks stunning tonight, her and Ashford are cute, don't you think, Dimitri?" Alberta side-glanced at me with a warm smile. _Well, this is awkward._

I cleared my throat and tried to sort out my thoughts enough to form a coherent sentence.

"Yes, they look good together."

Half way through the dance, Alberta said I could go back to my room and get some sleep, which I was thankful for. I didn't want to be here anymore, I just wanted to go to my room, undress, and go to sleep.

I waved to Alberta and mouthed a 'thank you' and headed out, not being able to get home fast enough. When I finally go to my room, I stripped, took a shower, put on some pj pants and hopped into bed. The moment I head hit the pillow I was fast asleep.

A loud pounding woke me up. _What the hell? Its like… I don't even know! But it's late…_ I groaned and pulled the pillow over my head, wanting to get back to my dream about Roza. Maybe if I ignore them… they'll go away?

God… someone was beating the living daylights out of my door. And they weren't going away. Great... so I had to get up now? Yay for me.

I lazily got out of bed and turned on my bedside lamp, walking over to the door. When I opened it, Rose was standing there. _Rose. Rose in her clingy black dress. Rose with wild eyes who was breathing heavily._ My eyes widened as I took her in. She was still breathtakingly beautiful, but there was something in her eyes that wasn't usually there and I couldn't decipher what it was.

"Rose?" was my intelligent response. What was she _doing_ here?

"Let me in. It's Lissa." She said and I immediately stepped aside, letting her into my room. I wasn't sure if this was allowed or not, but I think it would probably be better if nobody knew she was up here.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, wondering why she hadn't already run off without explanation to go save Lissa. This was strange. Then, Rose was leaning into me, pretty much making out with my chest.

"Rose!" I exclaimed- shocked and thrilled at what she had just done. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think?" oh god, was she drunk or something? I knew she wouldn't be doing this in her normal state of mind. She stepped forward again; staring at my lips with what I now understood was hunger. Desire. Lust. Need. _Want._ She wanted me.

"Are you drunk?" I asked her, my rational side was saying that this should not be happening, something was wrong with Lissa- Rose had said something was wrong with Lissa, and no matter how drunk Rose was, I knew she would _never_ just through her safety in the air like that. But on the other hand, my less rational side was begging me to wrap my arms around her and kiss her senseless. Just like I have been wanting to do for a week and a half. _You're finally admitting it now, huh? I'm proud of you! You admitting your feelings and all!_

"Don't I wish," she said, trying to dodge around me, then she paused, momentarily uncertain. Something I have never seen on her before. "I thought you waned to-don't you think I'm pretty?" Oh god. What was this all about? I had just seen her not two hours ago giggling and laughing with that Ashfart guy, or whatever his name was.

"Rose, I don't know what's going on, but you need to go back to your room." I said just as she moved toward me again. I reached out and gripped her wrists, trying to get her attention, but the second I touched her skin, her soft, silky, warm skin, everything changed. I suddenly didn't care about anything else but Rose and how beautiful she looked right now. How much I wanted her perfect, pink, plump lips on mine, how much I wanted to run my fingers through her hair while I kissed her passionately. I needed her desperately, and I needed her now.

I couldn't remember why I wanted her to go back to her room, what, was I crazy or something? The girl I have been obsessed with comes and practically punches my door down and throws herself at me and I want her to go back to her room? Jeez, I was losing my mind.

I released her wrists, slowly sliding my hands against the soft skin of her arm. I looked into her eyes, and pulled her to me, pressing her right up against my body. One of my hands moved up the back of her neck, twining her soft locks into my fingers, the other tipping her face up to meet mine. I lightly brushed my lips against hers, loving the feeling of them on mine. Kissing her was everything id ever imagined it to be and more. It was utterly heaven.

Rose swallowed hard before whispering. "Do you think I'm pretty?"

"I think you're beautiful."

"Beautiful?"

"You are so beautiful, it hurts me sometimes." I whisper to her. My lips moved to hers then, gentle at first, and then hard and hungry. My hands slid down her arms, bunching up the fabric of her sexy-as-hell dress. Somewhere in-between our kisses her dress hit the floor and my hands ran greedily across her now exposed flesh. My desire for her increased at least tenfold.

"You… you got rid of that dress fast," she pointed out between heavy breaths. "O thought you liked it."

"I do like it." I said. My breathing was just as heavy as hers. "I love it.

Then, I led her to the bed.

* * *

Soooo.. What did you think? haha. what a cliffy! Sorry 'bout that.

So... leave me a few words! I'd love to hear what you think!

Thanks!

Until next time...

~Brittany3

(**AN:** "Blow your soup" is an actual phrase that my school's guidance councilor came up with… she was really amazing and absolutely the best councilor I've ever met, (not that I've met many... haha not at all) but she retired when I was in fifth grade. It simply means to breath in and out (you can also hold your hands out in front of your face in a bowl shape to make it even more realistic!) to help calm yourself down.)


	16. Chapter 16

Heyyy Folks... so I hadn't realized that this would be the last chapter...

So, This is the last chapter.. Please, enjoy!

_

* * *

And then I took her to the bed._

Lying on the covers, we clung to each other and kept kissing-and kissing and kissing and kissing. My hands and lips had minds of their own as they made their way over every inch of her prefect body. Every place our skin made sweet contact left a fiery trail of pleasure. Her touch was like a drug. I couldn't get enough. And even though the physical aspect of our situation was amazing, just being close to her, just being able to touch her was better than anything. I couldn't help it when her name started tumbling from my lips like a whispered prayer: _Roza, Roza_…

Somewhere in all of this, I knew there was a reason she had been pounding the life out of my door, but I couldn't bring myself to remember what she said. There was this soft whisper in the back of my head: _stay with her. Stay with her. Don't think about anything else except her. Keep touching her. Forget everything else._ I listened.

The need for Rose was becoming more than I could bear, but I took it slow. Rose was nervous, I could tell; so the pajama pants I had on stayed put. At one point though, she shifted so that she hovered above me, her hair hanging around me making it impossible to think about anything but the sweet smell of her shampoo. I tilted my head slightly at her boldness, but hey, I wasn't complaining. Rose trailed her fingertips along the back of my neck just over the six little _molnija_ marks that I had.

"Did you really kill six Strigoi?" she whispered and all I could do was nod. "wow." There was never a time that I had been so proud to have those marks, ever. I brought her neck down to my mouth and I kissed along her neck and jaw, my teeth gently grazing her silky skin.

"Don't worry; you'll have a lot more than me one day."

"…about it?"

"Hmmm?" I had lost myself in her; just being this close to her was intoxicating and I could literally feel myself melt around her. She fit my body like we were made for each other.

I twisted my fingers in her hair and tried to pay more attention to what she was saying.

"Killing them. You said in the van that it was the right thing to do, but it still bothers you. It's why you go to church, isn't it? I see you there, but you're not really into the services." I stopped my ministrations and smiled, dumbfounded that she knew that. I tried so hard to hide that, but she had guessed it right off the bat.

"How do you know these things? I'm not guilty exactly… just sad sometimes. All of them used to be human or Dhampir or Moroi. It's a waste, that's all, but as I said before, its something I have to do. Something we all have to do. Sometimes it bothers me, and the chapel is a good place to think about those things. Sometimes I find peace there, but not often. I find more peace with you." I rolled her off of me and climbed on top of her. The kissing picked up once again, harder this time. More urgent. _This is the moment you've been waiting for. This is finally it._ I could see the decision in Rose's eyes, giving me permission to take her. I smiled at her as I slid my hands behind her neck to unclasp the necklace. I set it on the bedside table. As soon as the chain left my fingers, I felt like I had been slapped in the dace. I shook my head. "What happened?"

"I-I don't know." I felt like I was trying to wake up, like I'd been asleep for two days. Rose had said something… I let her in my room for _something_….

My head felt strange. Not pain or dizziness, but… the voice. The voice telling me to stay with Rose was no longer pulling me toward her. _What the…?_ I frowned and reached over to pick the necklace back up. The instant my fingers touched the chain a wave of desire rolled over me and I almost groaned. I heard Rose take a deep breath as I slid my other hand over her exposed hip. My stomach went queasy while my skin started to prickle where we were connected. Her breathing became heavy and my lips moved toward hers. I was unable to control myself, but there was one word that lingered in my brain. The first thing Rose had said when I opened the door. _It's Lissa._

Rose pulled back, squeezing her eyes shut, struggling against the compulsion spell. "Lissa," she whispered. "I have to tell you something about Lissa. But I can't… remember…I feel so strange…"

"I know." I was still holding onto her. I rested my cheek against her forehead. "There's something…something here…" I pulled my face away to look into her eyes. "This necklace. That's the one Prince Victor Dashkov gave you?" Rose nodded. Victor was an Earth user. Some one who could...who could…

_Don't think about anything else except Rose. Keep touching her. Forget about everything else. Stay with her. Stay with her._

Victor could… use earth... compulsion. It was a compulsion spell. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. This was the most painful thing I have ever had to do. I removed my hand from Rose's hip and pushed away from her.

"What are you doing?" Rose's eyes went wide and she reached out for me. "Come back…"It was physically painful for me to be so far away from her, not touching her, but hearing her beg me to come back was even worse. I wanted- no needed- her… but there was something…there was something here.

I climbed off the bed and walked over to the window, the farther away the charm the less powerful it would be on us. Rose looked like she had just woken up and I wished so much to just go back and ravish her for the rest of the night, and tomorrow, and the next day, and the next. But…this charm…Rose…the charm…Rose…the charm.

When I reached with window I managed to open it one-handed and a cold blast of air blew into the room and I saw Rose out of the corner of my eye rub her arms up and down, and for a moment, I couldn't keep my eyes away from her bouncing breasts.

"What are you going to" Rose realized my intentions just as I flung the necklace out the window. "No! Do you know how much that must have-" Once the necklace disappeared I no longer felt like I was _waking_ up. I _was_ awake. Painfully, startlingly so. I was so discombobulated I had to shake my head for a few moments before I heard a loud gasp.

"Lissa!" I turned to Rose and saw fifty different emotions of pure terror, pain, and anxiety fly across her face. Words started tumbling out of her mouth and I had to strain my ears to understand what she was saying.

"Lissa! She was kidnapped. She was in the Chapel with Christian Ozera and all of a sudden four bastards jump out and take her! We have to help her! She's in danger! Dimitri, we have to _fucking_ help her! She-" I was in motion before she even finished. I fished around my room, trying to find something to wear. I told Rose to put her dress back on and tossed her one of my old sweatshirts, trying to dispel the image of her naked body under mine.

Rose still seemed kind of out of it, and I made no effort to slow down for her. This was my charge at stake. And I was _not_ going to lose this one too.

Ten minutes later, we were in the Guardians' Office with half the Guardian staff and Headmistress Kirova. Calls were being made and orders were being shouted. Rose kept on yelling at them to "hurry up! Do something!" she would grit her teeth and squeeze her eyes shut- I knew she was experiencing everything that the Princess was, and that made me want to save her even more.

Headmistress Kirova didn't believe Rose when she told her that Lissa had been kidnapped. Nobody did until someone went to go retrieve Christian from the chapel. The back of his head was bleeding and he needed the support of two Guardians to walk. Headmistress Kirova confirmed the Princess's absence, and everything turned hectic from there.

"How many Strigoi were there?" asked Guardian Noonan.

"How in the world did they get in?" Murmured someone else.

"Wh-? There weren't any Strigoi." Rose said, a confused look spread across her beautiful face. Every set of eyes in that room were trained on my Roza. "Who else would have taken her?" demanded Kirova. "You must have seen it wrong through the…vision."

"No. I'm positive. It was…they were…Guardians."

"She's right," mumbled Christian from behind Dr. Olendski, who was patching up his head wound.

"That's impossible," Guardian McCander said, incredulous.

"They weren't school Guardians." Rose rubbed her forehead, fighting hard against something. _Headache?_ Rose's expression quickly changed to one of irritation and frustration. "Would you guys get moving? She's getting farther away!"

"You're saying a group of privately retained Guardians came in and kidnapped her?" The tone in Kirova's voice implied Rose was playing some kind of joke. _Could she not see how distressed Rose was? Roza, my Roza, wouldn't play some kind of joke where Lissa's safety was concerned. She cared too much for the Princess_

"Yes," she replied through gritted teeth. "They…" I could see Rose leaving the room and going somewhere far away. Her eyes were squeezed tight and her teeth ground together. Different emotions warred on her face. She was with Lissa. After a minute or two Rose's face changed and she gasped out, "They work for Victor Dashkov." Rose focused back on her physical surroundings, looking at Kirova. "They're his."

"Prince Victor Dashkov?" Asked Guardian McCander with a snort. Like there was any other Victor Dashkov.

"Please," she moaned, clutching her head. "Do something. They're getting so far away. They're on…Eighty-three. Headed south." She said after a moment.

"Eighty-three already? How long ago did they leave? Why didn't you come sooner?" Rose glanced at me anxiously. Shit.

"A compulsion spell," I said slowly, trying to some up with something that wasn't a lie but not exactly the truth. That would sound great. _We didn't come sooner because we were getting down 'n dirty in my bedroom._ _I was about to take a young girl's virginity when I noticed that the necklace Victor gave her contained a lust charm. We came down as soon as we had clothes on, but don't worry, nothing really happened._ "A compulsion spell put into a necklace he gave her. It made her attack me." That sounded good. Plausible. Rose was known for her violence, for her lack of control.

"No one can use that kind of compulsion," exclaimed Kirova. "No one's don't that in ages."

"Well someone did. By the time I'd restrained her and taken the necklace, a lot of time had passed.," I continued, hopefully nothing was showing on my face. I guess my Guardian mask was still in tact, because nobody questioned the story and finally, the group was moving into action.

I had to force Kirova to let Rose come, insisting she could help us lead us to the Princess, and even though that was true, mostly I just wanted to be with her again. Roza and I were in the first SUV with me driving and her in the passenger seat. The only conversation was her telling me where to turn and how far away they were.

"They're still on Eighty-three…but their turn is coming. They aren't speeding. They don't want to get pulled over." I nodded, not looking at her. If I looked at her, all I would see is her naked lying on my bed with lust-filled eyes.

I was most _certainly_ speeding.

"They're turning," she said suddenly. "I can't see the road name, but I'll know when we're close." I grunted in acknowledgment and saw Rose sink further into her seat.

Looking at Rose, I couldn't help but wonder if she regretted what had happened. Maybe if it were under different circumstances, if I want her mentor, it would have been different. I knew already, that Roza was special. She was that one girl that was always on my mind and no matter how hard I tried, I could never get her _off_ my mind. All that was going on in my mind was the feeling of her lips on mine, firm but soft and gentle. The sensation of her fingertips lightly tracing shapes on my bare back, or her hands intertwined in my hair, lightly pulling as she kissed me so passionately I could feel my brain start to boil from its heat.

It was then that I realized I was in _way_ over my head with Rose. My Roza.

"There," Rose said after about twenty minutes, indicating the road that Victor's car had turned off on. It was unpaved gravel, and the SUV gave us an edge over his luxury car.

The drive was ever silence., the only sound coming from the crunching gravel under our tires. Dust kicked up outside the windows, swirling around us.

"They're turning again."

Farther and farther off the main road we went, and we followed the whole time, led by Roza's instructions. Finally, she felt Victor's car come to a stop.

"They are outside a small cabin," she said. "They're taking her-" Rose suddenly cut off, her eyes glazed over. She was with Lissa again.

After a few moments, Roza's face scrunched up and she let out an ear splitting, bloodcurdling scream. It was the most heart breaking, chest-squeezing sound I have ever heard. I whipped my head around, my eyes wide, my heart pounding. My grip on the steering wheel jerked in surprise, making the car veer. From behind Rose's seat, Alberta reached forward and rested a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Rose, what's happening?"

I glanced in her direction and saw that Rose, my Roza was blinking back tears. I had never seen her crying. Rose and crying should never be in the same sentence, its just not…it's not _her._ "They're torturing her…with air. This guy…Kenneth…he's been making it press against her…into her head. The pressure's insane. It feels like my head-her-skull's gonna explode." Then she burst into tears. I looked at her out of the corner of my eye and pressed the gas pedal a little harder. I couldn't believe _Prince_ Victor Dashkov had had the nerve to kidnap my charge…_my_ charge. And now…he was inflicting pain on her _and_ my Roza. Oh no, this son of a bitch was going wish he were dead when I get through with him. If anything, _anything_ was physically wrong with Lissa or Roza…Things are going to get real ugly, real fast.

I could feel myself losing my control slowly. The Guardian mask was slipping and I could feel my face grow darker and darker along with my emotions. When I couldn't control myself anymore I let out a long string of Russian profanities.

* * *

When we were about a quarter mile from the cabin, I stopped the car and Alberta made a call on her cell phone. Our whole convoy pulled over and all of the Guardians-more than a dozen-got out and stood huddled, planning strategy. One of the head Guardians went ahead to scout and returned with a report on the number of people inside and outside the cabin. And when the group was ready to go, Rose started to get out of the car. _Oh, hell no._

"No, Roza. You stay here."

"The hell with that. I have to go help her." I stepped closer to her and cupped her chin in my hands, loving the warmth. "You have helped her. Your job is done. You did it well. But this isn't any place for you. She and I both need you to stay safe." If something happened to Rose in there…if she were to get hurt…

I stopped myself from thinking about that…it was unhealthy and I shouldn't be thinking about her that way. She was my student… I was her mentor. _Yeah… a student that you haven't stopped thinking about since you first laid eyes on her. A student that you had naked in your bed only five hours ago. _

I saw Rose swallow back her argument, she seemed to realize that arguing would only prolong Lissa's rescue. She nodded and I nodded in return and went off to join the others.

* * *

When we burst into the cabin, the Princess wasn't there. We contained Victor and his Guardians and searched the whole cabin before confirming that she was, in fact, not present.

"What the hell! Where is the Princess? Could she have been taken away by another guardian?" asked one of the Guardians. We all kind of looked at each other and glanced around the room again.

"Fan out. Search the surrounding forest. They couldn't have gotten far. Ill go ask Rose where the Princess is." I told everyone. They all nodded and left to search the woods. That'd be fun.

I ran a hand through my hair as I jogged back to the car. As I neared it, I noticed the passenger door was open and a sudden feeling of dread washed over me. _She didn't._ _Oh, she fucking_ didn't. I ran the rest of the way to the car, practically smashing into it and searched the SUV, hoping desperately in vain that she was somewhere in the car. But, of course, she was Rose. And that, by definition, meant she wasn't there. I groaned and punched the side of the car, leaving a small dent.

Just then I heard Alberta call out and I turned around to see her running up to me. "What did she-" She stopped short when she saw the expression on my face. "She's not…she's not here is she?" She asked, with a small smile on her face. She was smiling? Why the hell was she smiling? "I figured."

"We need to find them. Has the search started?" I asked, pacing in front of the car. Why couldn't she listen to me? Did she have to go and run off? What did she not understand about 'She and I both need her to be safe'? Didn't she realize how much her life means to me and the Princess?

Alberta and I started fanning the forest around the SUV. I was the first one to hear the howls. Alberta and I looked at each other and both burst into a sprint in the direction of the howls. As we got closer, the howls stopped. Alberta got her gun out and we she burst through an opening. Rose and Lissa were up against a tree and there were three Psi Hound bodies, one of them chewing on something, or _someone._ Alberta shot it with two clean shots through the skull and Rose and Lissa started crawling over to whatever the hound had been chewing. As we got closer, I recognized it as a body.

_Christian Ozera's body._

His body was a gory heap of mangled limbs and blood. when I looked at his body, my stomach lurched and I had to swallow back a gag. He wasn't dead yet, but even if we could get him to a hospital in the next three seconds, he wasn't going to make it. _Why the hell was he even here!_

I saw Lissa reach toward him and then drop her hand. "I cant." She croaked in a small voice. "I don't have the strength left."

Alberta gently tugged on her arm. "Come on, Princess. We need to get out of here. We'll send help." Rose looked over at Lissa and back to Christian.

"Liss," she whispered hesitantly. She looked over at Rose, like she had forgotten she was even there. Wordlessly, Rose swept her hair behind her neck and tilted it toward her. The Princess stared at her for a moment, blank-faced; then understanding shone in her eyes. Lissa leaned into Rose and bit into Rose's neck. Rose let out a small moan as a blissful expression took over her face.

Lissa didn't take much, and when she was done she leaned over Christian again and something miraculous happened. Alberta gasped out loud as Christian's wounds healed before our very eyes. The blood dried up and color returned to his face. His eyes fluttered and his eyes regained life. Focusing on Lissa, Christian smiled. It was like watching a Disney Movie.

* * *

Rose has been admitted in the Infirmary for the past two days. Lissa stayed with her most of the time, and slowly, the events of the kidnapping unfolded. Rose and Lissa had told Kirova, Alberta, and I about the unusual powers Lissa possessed. How she healed Victor and Christian and Rose as well. This information was to be kept a secret so that we didnt have a recap of the kidnapping.

Most of the students knew that Prince Victor Dashkov had kidnapped Lissa Dragomir. They didn't know why. Some of our Guardians had dies when we went in to the cabin. Victor was now being held under 24/7 guard at the school, waiting fir a royal regiment of Guardians to take him away. The Moroi rulers might be a mostly symbolic government within another country's larger government, but they had systems of justice, and Victor was going to jail. Moroi prisons were not places that you'd want to be.

And his daughter, Natalie, even though she was a minor, had still conspired with him. She had brought in the dead animals and kept an eye on on Lissa's behavior- supposedly even before they left. And being an Earth user, like Victor, she had also been the one to rot the bench that broke Rose's ankle. After Natalie had seen Lissa hold back on the dove, Natalie and her father had realized that they had to injure _Rose_ to get her to heal. She wasn't locked up yet, but the Academy didn't know what to do with her until a royal command came.

It was sick, what Victor had done. Natalie had been so self-conscious. Anyone could have manipulated her, let alone her father, whom she loved and from whom she so desperately wanted attention. She would have done anything. She had been screaming outside the detention center, begging them to let her to see him. They had refused and hauled her away.

I had heard that Lissa and Christian had started dating. It was sweet, but I couldn't help but feel jealous. Not because he got Lissa, but that he could have a real relationship with the girl he really wanted. He could hold her hand in public, kiss her whenever he wanted, hold her, touch her.

I had been ignoring Rose, not really wanting to have the much needed conversation that was bound to come up. Our practices had been suspended due to Rose's health state. It wasn't until the fourth day that we ran into each other. I had been in the gym, just about to walk out when Rose walked though the doors. She froze when she saw me. I was just going to walk by her, keeping up with the 'ignore her and it'll all be alright' notion I was trying to justify as reasonable, then stopped. We needed to talk about this.

"Rose..." I began, not really knowing what to say to her. After a few uncomfortable moments I said, "You need to report what happened. With us." I said at last.

"I can't do that. They'll fire you. Or worse." I could really think of anything worse than being fired and being away from her, but I couldn't think about that right now.

"They should fire me. What I did was wrong." _No matter how much I enjoyed it, or how much I think about it when I'm alone, it was still wrong. Rose was a minor. It was practically rape._

"You couldn't help it. It was the spell..."

"It doesn't matter. It was wrong. And stupid." Rose bit her lip and her eyes turned glassy. Oh shit. I made her cry.

"Look, it's not a big deal."

"It _is_ a big deal! I took advantage of you." Why didn't she see that what happened was wrong?

"No." she said evenly. "You didn't." Oh no. It was one thing for me to have a one-sided obsession with Rose, but for her to have some kind of crush or liking to me as well... well that was an issue.

"Rose, I'm seven years older than you. In ten years, that won't mean so much, but for now, it's huge. I'm an adult. You're a child." It was low, but I had to get it through her head. I saw her flinch slightly and I instantly felt bad. It was even worse because I didn't even see her as a child.

"You didn't seem to think that I was a child when you were all over me." She whipped at me, and now it was my turn to flinch.

"Just because your body...well, that doesn't make you an 're in two very different places. I've been out in the world. I've been on my own. I've killed, Rose-_people_, not animals. And you...you're just starting out. Your life is about homework and clothes and dances."

"That's all you think I care about?" Uh-oh. I shouldn't have gone there.

"No, of course not. Not entirely. But it's all part of your world. You're still growing up and figuring out who you are and what's important. You need to keep doing that. You need to be with boys your own age." Rose had a pout on her face, but didn't say anything.

"Even if you chose not to tell, you need to understand that _it was a mistake._ And it isn't ever going to happen again." I added.

"Because you're too old for me? Because it isn't responsible?"

I made sure my face was perfectly blank, I couldn't lead her on. It was just cruel. I couldn't let her know how much it pained me to say this. "No. Because I'm just not interested in you that way." Rose stared at me. Her face displayed that she had gotten the message loud and clear.

"It only happened because of the spell. Do you understand?" Rose just shrugged. "Yeah. Understood."

* * *

After that, I went to my room and sulked for a few hours. My sulking was interrupted by a loud, obnoxious pounding on my door. _The last time someone cam pounding at your door, You almost had sex with Rose. To open the door, or to not open the door; that is the question._ I sighed and got up, taking my time walking to the door.

"Belikov! Open up! Emergency!" Alberta was screaming through the door. My eyes widened and I grabbed a shirt before running over to the door and swinging it open.

"What's wrong? what happened?"

"There is a Strigoi on campus."

"What! How?" I asked, shocked. That was impossible. The wards had just been replaced to days ago. No way was there a Strigoi on campus.

"Mr. Nagy's body was found drained of blood about ten minutes ago. He had been dead for about an hour."

"Do you know who it was?" I asked, quickly going through most of the students in my head.

"We did a head check and the only student missing is Natalie Dashkov." She said, pulling my arm, dragging me down the hall. _Natalie!_

"We can't locate her. Do you have any idea were she might be?"

"I have an inkling." I said, already knowing that Natalie would most likely be with her father. That sick bastard. He got his only daughter to turn Strigoi! Fuck. I didn't waste any time explaining, I just ran off toward the detention center. I heard a growl and a loud thud and i ran a little bit faster, Natalie was down here. I charged down the hallway just as Natalie spun around. It was sad to see a student like this, but I couldn't hesitate, I couldn't let let my head get in the way.

I landed a few blows, along with receiving some when I made my move. The silver stake flashed in my hand like a streak of lightning. I snaked it into her heart and yanked it out quick. My face was impassive as she screamed and fell onto the ground, flinching until finally, all her movement stopped. I then ran over to Rose, my Roza and picked her up off the floor, carrying her like when she had broken her ankle.

"Hey, Comrade," she mumbled, her voice sounding sleepy. "You were right about Strigoi." Rose's eyes started drooping.

"Rose. Roza. Open your eyes." I whispered franticly to her. Oh God, please don't let her die. Oh Lord. Don't let her leave me. "Don'tgo to sleep on me. Not yet." She squinted up at me as i carried her out of the building. I was literally running to the clinic.

"Was he right?"

"Who?"

"Victor...he said it couldn't have worked. The necklace." Rose started to drift off and I prompted her back to consciousness.

"What do you mean?" Shit. Had Victor told her...

""The spell. Victor said you had to want me...to care about me...for it to work." Oh fuck. He told her. What the hell was I supposed to say now? _Um... you could try the truth. _Rose tried to grip my shirt, but her fingers were to weak. "Did you? Did you want me?"

"Yes, Roza. I did want you. I still do. I wish...we could be together."

"Then why did you lie to me?" Just then we reached the clinic, and i managed to open the door with one hand. As soon as I stepped inside, I called out for someone to help us.

"Why did you lie?" She murmured again. I looked down at her, still in my arms. I could hear voices and footsteps getting closer.

"Because we can't be together."

"Because of the age thing, right?" she whispered. "Because you're my mentor?" My fingertips gently wiped away a tear that had escaped down her cheek.

"That's part of it. But also...well, you and I will both be Lissa's Guardians someday. I need to be able to protect her at all costs. If a pack of Strigoi come, I need to throw my body between them and her." I tried to explain to her.

"I know that. Of course that's what you have to do." I could tell that Rose was starting to fade again.

"No. If I let myself love you, I won't throw myself in front of her. I'll throw myself in front of you." That's when the Medical team arrived and took me out of his arms.

Rose had a definite concussion, but they had Lissa come in and heal her. After that, everything about Rose and I's relationship seemed completely normal, just the way a student and a mentor's relationship should be. There was nothing out of the ordinary-save for an occasional meeting of our eyes.

Once Rose had overcome her initial reaction to why we couldn't be together, she knew I was right. Two Guardians in a relationship could distract each other from the Moroi they were supposed to protect. We couldn't allow that to happen, not when it was Lissa.

* * *

So.. what did you think? Should I do the other books too?

Please, Leave me a review! If i get five telling me to do the second book, I'll post the first chapter sometime this week.

Much love and thanks to my wonderful readers and reveiwers,

~Brittany3


	17. Chapter 17

Hey guys, its Brittany. I just wanted to inform anyone who doesn't have me on AuthorAlert that I have posted the first chapter to the second book of the Vampire Academy series, by Richelle Mead. The name of the story is "Frost Bite: Dimitri's Story". Check it out.

Much love and thanks,

Brittany 3


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